


Aldnoah Sonata In D Major

by RealmOfTan



Series: Aldnoah Sonata In D Major [1]
Category: Aldnoah.Zero (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Boys' Love, Child Abuse, Classical Music, Dysfunctional Family, Family Feels, First Love, Fluff, Inspired by Music, Interpersonal Development, Intrapersonal Development, M/M, Shounen-ai, Teen Romance, Violins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2015-10-11
Packaged: 2018-04-17 06:29:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 40,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4656171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RealmOfTan/pseuds/RealmOfTan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The summer is hot and Inaho is sent out on a mission by Yuki to buy groceries on his way home after cram school. Inaho decides to go into town to buy the special kind of exclusive ice cream he knows Yuki likes, which is only sold in one store in Shinawara. He meets a blond western boy standing on the street corner opposite of the store who plays a beautiful violin solo for money on an old violin. The boy looks hot under the scorching sun and Inaho decides to treat the boy for an ice cream. That sparks the start to something completely new for them both.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Senza Sordino

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this as therapy during summer after my life kinda crashed. The entire story is finished since about an month ago and I will update once/twice per week (while those who read the AFWE are waiting for the oncoming chapter). This is supposed to be a heartwarming story in an alternate universe, and I have tried to incorporate the characters' traits into this world as best as I could according to my interpretation from the anime.
> 
> I hope you enjoy.

The hot summer sun was merciless and people in downtown were trying to hurry out of the sun. Some tried to find shelter in the shadows cast by the trees and buildings while others rushed inside the air conditioned stores and shopping centers. Inaho was walking down the busy street with tourists, families and busy business men and women walking in his way, and he found no energy to hurry past them due to the intense heat. His sister had asked him to buy groceries on his way home from cram school. Since Inaho was Inaho he had accepted her request and headed straight to the grocery store right after school had ended; he always did what she told him to since she was the only one he could not say no to. Now he slightly regretted going all the way into town instead of buying groceries from the store close to their apartment building.

‘ _But that store doesn’t have the ice cream Yuki-nee likes_ ,’ he thought and found it somewhat a hassle that he wanted to surprise his sister with her favorite ice cream after she got home from work. She enjoyed the chocolate covered vanilla ice cream of the slightly finer kind and the store in town was the closest store which sold it. It meant Inaho had to take a bus all the way from school which took about 20 minutes, and then take another bus back home which took 35 minutes.

He stepped out of the way for a woman walking his way with hasty steps and managed to somehow not bump into her on the busy street, and as he rounded the corner from where she had come from a calming sound reached his ears. It was bittersweet, almost like the sound was joyful of it finally being heard after a long time of silence. He did not pay it much mind at first but the closer he got to the store he was heading toward the louder the sound got, until he could not ignore it anymore.

‘ _A violin?_ ’

The song which he was hearing sounded like it was played on heartstrings. It was gentle and warm as well as touching. It was not unusual for Inaho to find music interesting since it was something he found easy to understand; all he had to do was to feel while listening to it. It was a welcomed break from the stressful socialization he had to battle with each day, and it was the only time he could completely relax in his own world; it helped him shut out the world where he lived with everybody else when he simply wanted to be left alone.

As Inaho got to the entrance to the store he had to stop and look around to see where the song came from. Someone was playing a violin on the street and for some reason Inaho wanted to see this person who managed to play such a sad instrument and make it sound so gently joyful. A crowd had gathered on the other side of the street and Inaho found himself walking over to the crowd to get a look at the source of the song. A blond boy, dressed in a light blue t-shirt and white shorts, completed with navy blue boat shoes, was standing in the middle of the crowd. He could not have been much older than Inaho. He was standing in a relaxed pose and held the violin lovingly. His eyes were closed, almost like he listened closely to the violin to make sure it was happy, and he had a warm smile on his lips as he made the strings vibrate with the bow. He was rough in his posture – nothing even close to a professional violinist – and yet he seemed so at home with the violin and bow in his hand. He must have had begun playing at a young age.

‘ _Schubert…_ ’

The piece the western boy played was a classical piece by the well known composer Schubert. Inaho had heard the piece many times before but somehow this time the violin solo sounded so much more alive and inviting. If he had not had the mission to buy groceries to worry about he would have stayed for a while longer to listen to the boy play, but since Inaho was Inaho he could not break the schedule he had made in his mind. He left the crowd to get the things he needed from the store.

When he exited the store with two grocery bags in his hands the crowd on the other side of the street applauded and began dispersing, and the only one left at the spot was the blond boy. Inaho watched him gather the money the people had given him from the open violin case in front of him before he put the violin and bow inside it. He took a cloth from the case to clean the violin gently before he began tuning it. The boy had managed to gather a lot of money from his little performance and he seemed happy.

‘ _Is he poor?_ ’ Inaho thought and got surprised he actually cared to ponder about such a trivial thing as a stranger’s economical situation. He usually never put any thought into something that did not concern him or his sister. This boy had caught his interest; it was not something Inaho was used to.

While he was perplexed by his interest in the boy he rummaged around in one of the grocery bags for one of the ice creams he had bought. The blond was sweaty and had red cheeks from the merciless sun burning him and Inaho thought it would have been best for the boy to cool down in order to not get a heatstroke. As he found one of the ice creams he walked over to the boy and held the ice cream out to him. The blond stopped tuning the violin to look up at him with surprise in his blue eyes.

“You look hot,” Inaho said calmly and saw the boy’s cheeks turn redder as an immediate blush crept over the western boy’s face.

“Um… Th-thank you,” the blond said with nearly perfect Japanese and stared at Inaho with an awkward gaze. He did not touch the ice cream and Inaho wondered why the blond did not even look at it.

“Here,” Inaho said and reached out the ice cream a little further to make the boy notice it.

“Huh?” The western boy’s gaze dropped to the ice cream. “Oh… Oh!” the blond exclaimed and seemed embarrassed as he noticed the ice cream. “Th-thank you. You are so kind,” he then continued as he accepted the ice cream from Inaho’s waiting hand.

‘ _What a peculiar reaction_ ,’ Inaho thought and wondered why the blond had thanked him for the ice cream before he had noticed it.

“You’re welcome,” Inaho said with his usual monotone voice after he had decided not to bother asking about the boy’s reaction. He left the blond with the ice cream and headed home before the remaining ice creams would melt in the bags.

♪♫♪♫

The scraping sound of a pen against paper was all that was heard in the apartment. Inaho was immersed in studying math in his room to prepare for the entrance exam to high school and thus he was quite busy with his summer cram school. None of his friends were as serious as him about the exams; Calm would be calling during weekends to ask if Inaho wanted to meet up and have some fun along with the others, and lately Inaho had turned them down to be able to finish up his – according to Calm – unnecessarily ambitious homework.

“ _I guess your dreams are bigger than ours since you take this high school thing so seriously_ ,” Calm had said somewhat downcast the last time he had called.

For Inaho there was no time for slacking off. Becoming a physicist in the field of thermodynamics was his goal and he knew how important it was to start early in order to have a chance in the academic world once he got there. Calm wanted to become an engineer but he had not decided on what kind of engineer yet, and so Inaho could understand his lack of motivation in school; keeping up the level of motivation was hard when there was no set goal to strive for. Nina was dreaming about becoming a fashion designer while Inko had been talking about the Environmental Committee (which basically meant she was striving to become a politician). It suited her, Inaho thought, since she was a member in the student council and had been the top student in school before Inaho had taken her place. Inaho knew Inko was studying just as hard as he was even if Calm tried to make it seem like Inaho was the only one who was busy with his studies. He probably did the same to Inko. Calm had made futile tries to give Inaho guilt in order to make him accept the boy’s invitations to hang out.

The phone vibrated on top of the desk and Inaho interrupted his mathematical problem solving to look at the phone for a while. His sister’s name flashed on the screen and after a couple of seconds he put his pen down to pick up the phone.

“ _Nao! Could you get some ice cream again? It’s so hot I think I’m dying!_ ” was the first thing he heard his sister say.

“Will you be late today as well?” Inaho asked and heard the sounds of a busy workplace in the background on the other side of the line.

“ _I’m sorry if I’m barely at home recently, Nao, but I have a lot of work to do. Have you been studying?_ ”

“I finished about an hour ago,” Inaho lied; he did not want to give his sister any kind of guilt for interrupting him in his studies. She was already working hard as a fill-in police officer in order to be able to pay for Inaho’s cram school, and guilt was the last thing she needed on her mind. Inaho was already grateful for what she did for him and buying ice cream in order to cheer her up was something he would gladly do even during his time of studying.

“ _Oh, then I’m not interrupting you with my selfish request_ ,” he heard her say with a voice which sounded like she was smiling.

“Not at all,” Inaho answered. “Do you want the usual ice cream?”

“ _Yeah. Buy two cartons this time. The amount you bought yesterday was not nearly enough to cool me down_ ,” she laughed on the other end of the phone.

“You are just using the heat as an excuse to eat as much ice cream as you can fit in your stomach, and recently it has been able to fit a lot of ice cream in there,” Inaho answered back and there was a slight pause before his sister’s loud voice screamed at him:

“ _Are you calling me fat!?_ ”

“If you keep this up then that might become reality,” Inaho said with his typical voice which lacked any kind of emotion.

Yuki sighed heavily.

“ _Fine, fine! Buy just one carton this time then_ ,” she said and before they hung up she thanked him for going out of his way just for a little ice cream.

♪♫♪♫

The sound of a violin reached his ears once again while he was walking under the hot sun, but this day the sound was what would have been called romantic. The piece played was calm and beautiful, slow and beckoning – something that would have been played on a wedding. This time Inaho stopped to listen before he entered the store. The majority of the people in the crowd, which once again was obscuring Inaho’s vision of the blond boy, were enjoying the beauty of the song with their eyes closed and with slight smiles on their lips. The crowd seemed to have grown since yesterday.

After a while of listening and enjoying the song Inaho entered the store to get Yuki’s ice cream and the sound of the violin accompanied him all the way to the freezer at the back of the store; this time he could not stop hearing the slight sounds of the violin which were barely strong enough to reach his ears in the store.

With the bag of ice cream in hand he came out of the store and stopped to look at the crowd which still stood there and enjoyed listening to the violin playing boy. Something was going on in the middle of the crowd. Curiosity took a pitiless grip of Inaho and forced him to walk over to the crowd in order to look at what was happening. That was when he saw a man on one knee on the ground with a little box held in front of a woman who looked like she was about to burst into tears.

‘ _A proposal_ ,’ the brunet thought and let his eyes wander to the boy who was playing the violin. He was far more interesting than the soon to be married couple. The blond boy had a heartwarming smile on his face as he played the song and watched the couple. He did not seem surprised at all about what was happening and Inaho wondered if the man asking for the woman’s hand in marriage had asked him to play for them this particular day. It was a kind thought which made this day special for them.

Once the woman had answered yes and gotten the ring onto her finger the crowd applauded and the boy faded out the romantic violin solo. Once the applauds were dying down while the couple kissed he played the intro for the _Wedding March_ but interrupted himself after just a couple of strokes on the violin and chuckled.

“Maybe it is a little too early to play it now?” he asked and the crowd laughed together with the couple – who thanked the boy and gave him a 10 000 yen banknote. The boy protested slightly; apparently it was too much for him to be able to accept it but after the couple insisted the blond bowed deeply and thanked them sincerely.

The boy put down his violin into the case to take a break and the people who had gathered there continued on with their business and scattered. The blond picked up a water bottle to have a drink and hydrate his body, which must have been hot from the scorching sun, and Inaho took one ice cream out of the bag to walk over to him once again and hold it out to him.

“You are hot today as well,” he said and waited for the blond to notice him. “You should be careful.”

This time the blond got a slight blush as he realized it was Inaho, but looked down at the ice cream instantly almost like he was making sure it was there, and smiled happily.

“Oh, thank you. You have no idea how much this saves me,” he said and accepted the ice cream.

“Do you play here often?” Inaho asked and waited for an answer, and the blond chuckled.

“Yes, everyday if I can,” the boy answered. “Do you buy ice cream here often?”

“Only when I’m asked to,” Inaho said and watched the boy open the wrapping around the ice cream. A question had been nagging in his mind from yesterday and he could not stop the urge to ask: “Are you poor?”

The boy looked up at him from the ice cream to stare at him for a short moment – surprised by Inaho’s blunt question – before he gave Inaho a wry smile.

“Both yes and no,” he answered with an unassertive tone.

“Sounds like a paradox,” Inaho remarked and waited for the blond to explain.

The other boy leaned against the wall behind him and seemed to think how to easiest respond to the brunet’s question. He took a bite of the chocolate topping on the ice cream before he said:

“I am not poor but I can’t ask my guardian to pay for the service I have to do on the violin. The violin is old and worn so it will need some repairs in the near future.”

“Why are you wearing it out by playing on the street? Shouldn’t you keep it securely in its case?” Inaho asked again with his blunt manner.

“Because I promised someone to keep playing it,” the blond answered with a weakened smile and seemed somewhat upset about Inaho’s question; Inaho knew he had probably sounded rude to the other boy with his question being so blunt. “And I want to get it into its proper shape. The neck is slightly crooked and two of the pegs aren’t strong enough to keep the violin tuned for as long as they should. The neck is subjected to great stress due to the tension from the strings, so it will probably be the first to go if I won’t do anything about it.”

‘ _In other words it has sentimental value_ ,’ Inaho thought secretly.

“What was the name of the song you played?” the Japanese boy wanted to know.

The westerner’s slightly saddened expression turned happier in an instant and he blushed a little as he answered with a somewhat childish smile:

“ _Canon_ by Pachelbel. It’s my favorite.”

Inaho stared at him for a short moment as the boy’s smile was so expressive Inaho found himself be caught in it. Westerners always seemed to be less withdrawn when expressing emotions than Japanese people were, and meeting Calm and Nina had been interesting for Inaho due to their western nature. This boy seemed interesting as well.

“Will you play here tomorrow as well?” he finally asked as he had decided he had observed the blond boy’s smile long enough, and the boy tilted his head slightly to ask:

“Will you buy ice cream tomorrow as well?”

Inaho had bought enough ice cream he would not have to take a trip into town for at least two days and he instantly regretted buying that much ice cream. He wanted to buy ice cream the next day as well.

“No, I have bought a lot of it today,” Inaho answered honestly and the boy smiled with a slightly disappointed smile.

“Then why not let me return the favor and buy you some ice cream tomorrow?” he asked with his smile returning into that bright and expressive smile of his again. For some reason Inaho looked forward going into town; the hassle to run his sister's errand had turned into curiosity to return the next day.

“Sure,” he said expressionlessly and the western boy nodded happily.

“See you tomorrow then!”

Inaho nodded back and turned to walk to the bus stop and get back home to continue studying; he had to finish up tomorrow’s quota of studying tonight so he could have tomorrow free and go into town and be able to enjoy some ice cream for a while.


	2. Staccato

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two teens meet for some ice cream. Everything goes fine and they slowly get to know each other, but suddenly Inaho realizes something about his new friend.

When he returned the next day the sweet melody of something that sounded like a modern song reached his ears. He was walking toward the store where the blond western boy had played on the violin the day before. The violin sounded like it was singing with its heart; the player played it with such rich emotion that the crowd - which had gathered around the source of the sound - had grown once again; they took up most of the street and Inaho had difficulty of getting closer to the blond boy in order to watch him play. He decided to stand on the other side of the street since it was impossible to get into the crowd, and crowds had never been a comfortable place for Inaho so he did not mind. He wanted to wait until the boy had finished the song and the crowd had scattered slightly for Inaho to be able to greet the blond.

The song felt much longer than Inaho’s wristwatch showed; only five minutes had passed when the song was over but it felt like at least 20 minutes had gone by. Time felt like it had been slowed down and Inaho could not help but to wonder why the blond – who had incredible skills in playing the violin – was standing on a street in Shinawara playing his violin instead of in a concert hall. Was the western boy not good enough to get a spotlight on a grand stage? Inaho had not heard many musicians play a violin as well as the boy – not that he had heard many violinists in his short life but the boy was comparable to the late European violinist who had passed away unexpectedly two years ago.

The late violinist named Troyard had been considered as the world’s greatest violinist before he had passed away. The man had collapsed on the stage from a blood clot in the brain during a solo concert while playing his own original piece called _Aldnoah Sonata_ for the first time. Since the man had collapsed in the middle of the sonata it had left the piece in mystery; no one had heard it be played all the way to the end and what was recorded of the piece from Troyard’s last concert had gone viral on the internet. The news about the incident had spread like wildfire throughout the media. Apparently Troyard had been overworking himself and it had killed him in the end, and the man had left a beautiful unfinished sonata for the world to enjoy and speculate about. Some had tried to finish it but none had managed to make it sound satisfyingly enough like Troyard's original sound.

The crowd applauded and people bowed to the blond who bowed back to the crowd with sweat glistening on his forehead. As the crowd began dispersing for the day the blond noticed Inaho on the other side of the street and smiled brightly like he was happy to see him.

‘ _I’m a stranger. Why would you be so happy to see me?_ ’ Inaho wondered and walked over to the boy who wiped the sweat off of his forehead with a napkin and then cleaned the violin with the cloth he stored in the violin case.

“You came,” the blond said the moment Inaho stopped in front of him.

“Yes,” Inaho said expressionlessly and looked down into the violin case which stood open on the ground with money in it. “Have you earned a lot today?”

The blond looked up from the violin and nodded.

“I think I have gotten more than twice as much as yesterday. It’s not even close enough to pay for the repairs on the violin yet but if this keeps up I will be able to pay for it in about a year,” he answered and finished cleaning the violin. He continued with emptying the money from the case into a small metal case he had in the backpack which had been lying on the ground behind him.

“You are good,” Inaho said and the blond blushed from the compliment – which was intended more like a statement of facts from Inaho’s side.

“Thank you,” the boy said quietly and put the metallic case away and placed his violin in its case with great gentleness. As the case had been closed and locked he lifted the case and backpack from the ground and then smiled. “So, before I treat you for ice cream, how about you tell me your name?” the westerner asked. “I’m Slaine.”

“Inaho,” the Japanese boy answered frankly.

“It’s a delight to make your acquaintance, Inaho.”

They went into the store to have soft strawberry ice cream in a cup, and Slaine paid for them with some of the money he had earned from playing on the street. They made their way to a little row of wooden benches beneath parasols to sit down in the shadow and get a break from the hot summer sun.

They had been quiet the entire walk through the store and all the way to the benches. Inaho had a feeling the blond thought of the silence as awkward. He did not blame him; they were complete strangers and did not know what to talk about, and Inaho was not good with conversing all together.

“Why are you not playing on a stage?” Inaho asked suddenly as he took the plastic spoon with ice cream into his mouth.

Slaine’s eyebrows came together with displeasure.

“I can’t,” he said quietly and poked his ice cream with the little spoon. He seemed to have lost his appetite.

“Why?” Inaho prodded, wondering why Slaine could not stand on a stage and play for a proper audience when he was skillful enough to make a name for himself with only a couple of strokes with the bow on the violin strings. The crowd which had been growing for each day Slaine had played on the street had been proof of how good he was.

“I just can’t,” the blond insisted and tried to force a smile onto his lips as he looked up at Inaho, clearly protecting his secret. “Do you live around here?” he asked instead to change the conversation topic and continued eating his ice cream.

“No,” Inaho answered honestly and Slaine stared at him like he waited for him to continue. When Inaho did not continue the blond asked where he lived and Inaho told him he lived just outside downtown. “And you?” Inaho asked.

“I live in the east villa district.”

“Where the rich live?”

“When you put it that way it makes it sound bad,” Slaine chuckled quietly with his smile fading. “I’m sorry.”

“I was just asking to confirm,” Inaho said expressionlessly and did not understand Slaine’s apology.

“Oh…”

The silence which followed would have been described as awkward by Inaho’s friends and the brunet wondered if he should come up with something to talk about since Calm would always jokingly complain about Inaho being so silent. Inaho wondered if Slaine found the silence awkward as well just like his friends did, and asked:

“How long have you played on the violin?”

Slaine thought for a while in the same manner he had done the day before when Inaho had asked about why he was playing violin on the street.

“Mm… Since I was five I think. My dad used to teach me and encouraged me to play, and it turned into a family activity for us,” Slaine then answered and smiled as he seemed to remember back to his younger days. “So that makes it into 11 years of playing in total.”

“You’re 16?”

“Yes, and you?”

“15,” Inaho answered and they fell into silence again and finished their ice creams – which had begun to melt.

The people on the busy street passed them by and the noises from all around them drowned out the chirpings of the summer birds. Inaho kept observing Slaine from the corner of his eye. The blond seemed to be timid and careful; his movements were slow and discrete and the voice he spoke with was quiet and did not demand unnecessary attention. He was a quiet boy – something Inaho found refreshing due to his friends being of the outgoing types while he alone was the quiet one in the group. The blond did not make any unnecessary distractions by speaking loudly or make sudden movements which would divert Inaho from his concentration of socializing. It surprised him how pleasant the company of the western boy felt.

“You go to school here in the city?” Slaine suddenly asked after he had finished his ice cream, and Inaho nodded.

“Shinawara Junior High,” he answered and threw back the question to Slaine: “You?”

Slaine shook his head with a slightly sulky look on his face.

“No, I have a private teacher. I wish I could go to a normal school though,” he said and sighed.

“Why?” Inaho asked since the thought of having a private teacher was appealing on many levels for the brunet; there was no need to wait for the teacher’s attention while another student was getting help, and the schooling would be based on the student’s strengths and weaknesses, being completely individualized. The “one size fits all” system was defective and insufficient in many ways – especially for students like Inaho who needed bigger challenges than the others in class.

Slaine frowned.

“I would like to live a normal high school life. It’s kind of lonely to have a private teacher teaching me at home since I don’t get the chance to meet any friends,” he said and pouted childishly for a little while. Then he looked at Inaho with his gentle smile, which seemed to be his trademark trait in his character. “So what do your parents do?”

“I don’t have any parents,” Inaho answered bluntly and the gentle smile immediately disappeared from Slaine’s face.

“Oh…” he said quietly and seemed awkward. “Um… I’m sorry if I brought it up…”

“Why? You weren’t responsible for them dying,” Inaho said confused as he looked at the blond who seemed shameful for a reason Inaho did not understand. “I didn’t know them so I don’t really care.”

Inaho remembered how horrified Inko had been the moment he had said the exact same thing to her while they had gotten to know each other. Slaine had the same horrified expression now as she had had back then but instead of starting an argument of why Inaho should care Slaine’s shoulders slumped slightly and he sighed.

“I don’t have any parents either. My dad passed away two years ago and I never knew my mom,” he explained and frowned somewhat saddened.

Inaho’s attention fell onto Slaine’s emotional expression. He had realized their first difference; Slaine was clearly missing his father and even his mother whom he had never known while Inaho did not think much about his parents at all. Missing a person who one had never met was completely illogical for Inaho. He could not understand it since there were no memories to cling to.

“Is it your father’s violin?” Inaho asked and Slaine looked at the violin case next to him on the bench.

“Yes, I inherited it. It belonged to my great grandfather who gave it to my grandfather, and who in turn gave it to my father, and now I have it. I guess I could call it a family heirloom,” he smiled saddened and looked around to wait until people had passed by and they were alone, and he continued quietly: “It’s a Stradivarius 1712 original. Its sobriquet is Schreiber.”

”Stradivarius? Sobriquet?” Inaho asked as he did not understand the words, and Slaine blushed slightly.

“Oh, sorry! I forget people don’t usually know that much about violins,” he said quietly and his gloomy feelings began to fade when he got to talk about a topic he enjoyed. “Sobriquet means nickname – so my violin’s name is Schreiber,” he then said and patted the case. “Stradivari is the original maker to Stradivarius violins from Italy in the 1600’s to the middle of 1700’s, and his violins are considered the finest in the world.”

Inaho looked down at the case and then back up at Slaine’s slightly blushing face. The blond seemed contented whenever he was close to the violin.

“You can still play such old violins today? It’s over 300 years old,” Inaho asked and Slaine nodded.

“Oh yes. Several original Strad violins are still being used today by excellent violin players,” he explained.

“Isn’t it expensive?” Inaho wanted to know. It would have made sense if such an old violin was worth a fortune, and it baffled him that Slaine dared to show it on the street.

Slaine looked around them and then leaned in closer to whisper:

“I don’t want to say it out loud, but yes – it is worth more than my soul.” He leaned back again and sighed. “People who don’t have a trained eye can’t see the difference between a budget and expensive violin, so I’m not worried that someone might steal it. Because it’s so old I have an obligation to take care of it, and so I have to earn money to keep it in shape. It’s urgent now since it was damaged two years ago.”

“Why was it damaged?” Inaho wanted to know. He could not help but to feel curious now that he had someone who could explain a world to him which Inaho had never touched.

“My dad…” Slaine said quietly and his expression went melancholy. “He died with the violin in his hand. He collapsed and the violin hit the floor.”

Inaho stared at him for a while. Something began to light up in his mind since the small details Slaine had told him added up with his suspicions which had slowly taken form. Slaine owned an over 300 year old violin worth probably several 100 millions of yen. He was skilled in playing the violin considering the emotion he could put into the sound of it and he had proven himself worthy to be able to flawlessly play classical violin songs; he seemed to have been born to play the violin since it had been so effortless for the boy. Inaho’s suspicions were confirmed further by hearing that Slaine’s father had died two years ago by collapsing while playing the expensive violin, which now was damaged – just like the famous violinist whose death had been intensely covered by the media two years ago.

“Are you perhaps the son to the European violinist Troyard?” Inaho asked and Slaine stared at him dumbfounded with eyes wide open.

“Y-you know about my dad?” he asked quietly – clumsily revealing his secret – and Inaho nodded.

“Yes.”

‘ _So you are the son to the violinist Troyard after all. That explains a lot_ ,’ Inaho thought and waited for Slaine’s shock to subside, but that did not happen. Instead the blond got up from the bench in a hurry and took the violin case before he bowed to Inaho.

“E-excuse me but I have to go. Don’t tell anyone about who I am, please,” Slaine said in a hurry and was about to walk away when Inaho asked:

“Will you play tomorrow?”

“I will!” Slaine answered before he disappeared into the crowd.

Inaho sat on the bench for a while and pondered on why Slaine had suddenly gotten into a hurry to leave the moment Inaho had revealed the western boy’s identity. Why had the blond asked him not to tell anyone about him? Was Slaine in a situation which was difficult if his identity would come out to the public? Now that Inaho thought about it he did not remember that the media had ever written about Troyard having a son. It was peculiar to him why Troyard had kept his son in the shadows if Slaine’s ability to play a violin was great enough to be nearly comparable to his father.

After a while of pondering he got up to leave for the bus stop and get back home to continue studying now that his meeting with Slaine had gotten shorter than he had planned; he had nothing better to do. At least he was ahead of his schedule now and could probably spare a day to meet up with his friends.


	3. Con Sordino

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slaine rushes home due to shock that Inaho had been able to figure out his identity. Nervous, he hopes he will manage to run and hide in his room before his guardian finds out he has been out with the violin, but gets caught by his bully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for chapter:  
> This chapter contains abuse of a minor; I'm kinda loosely touching the subject of abuse of our fluffling Slaine in the anime.

He opened the door carefully and stepped into the grand hall. He listened for any kind of presence but the area seemed empty of people, and so he dared to hurry toward the staircase leading up to the second floor where he had his room. Slaine had hurried all the way home and not stopped anywhere as he had felt the sudden urge to hide. The Japanese boy’s attention had been sharp. Slaine had not expected him to know about his father since not many people knew about famous violinists in general; they were not like the mainstream celebrities whose names were on every teenager’s lips. Not many adults knew about the violin world either so it had come to him as a surprise that Inaho had been that quick to catch onto Slaine’s identity.

His father had made sure to spare Slaine all the attention from the media in order to protect him from the stressful life the media could create. Slaine had observed the harmfulness of that kind of life with his own eyes: Slowly Slaine’s father had become more and more detached from the role of a father since he had been a busy man; Slaine had fallen into the shadows cast by the spotlights since he was not allowed to participate in his father’s life in the world of fame. They had been moving around all over the world to keep up with his father’s busy touring and working schedule – which had left Slaine without a proper place to call a home. In the end Slaine had ended up in Cruhteo’s care after his father’s death, and the man’s mansion in Japan was his home now. To Slaine it was nothing but a place for torment.

Cruhteo was a talented violinist who was a concertmaster in the Vers Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted and founded by the musical director Sir Rayregalia Vers Rayvers. Cruhteo considered Sir Rayvers a great man and adored the director’s granddaughter whose father had passed away when she had been a young child. Asseylum was a pretty young lady only a year younger than Slaine who was well taught in playing both piano and flute, and Slaine had taken a liking to her when he had met her for the first time when he had been 12 years old:

The young Slaine had accompanied his father to a party at Sir Rayvers’ mansion where musicians on the classical scene gathered to mingle and make new contacts in the business. The small boy had accidentally choked on the lemonade served to the children while the grown-ups enjoyed a glass of expensive champagne, and the girl had come to his rescue. Asseylum had taken his glass from him to prevent him from dropping it and patted his back to help him clear his airways. Due to the innocent incident they had befriended each other immediately and spent the rest of the evening playing while the adults had been busy discussing business.

Slaine had not seen her ever since she had accompanied her grandfather to Slaine’s father’s funeral; they had exchanged some words and she had been as compassionate as ever while Slaine had been consumed by a heavy feeling of loss, and she had cheered him up during the funeral dinner later that day – a gesture Slaine would never forget; a gesture he still felt the lingering feelings from while he played his father’s violin.

It had been Sir Rayvers who had asked the pianist in the orchestra, Saazbaum, to look for someone who would take care of Slaine and provide for him until he would come of age, and it had had to be someone who was skilled with the violin to help Slaine maintain his violin talent. Instead Slaine had ended up with not being allowed to play at all due to Cruhteo’s unexplainable hate toward the boy.

He got up to the first level between the stairs when a mocking voice was heard from behind him, and he stopped dead in his tracks and cold sweat immediately broke out on his skin:

“You’ve been out again, _virtuoso_?”

Slaine stopped and felt his heart skip a beat from unpleasant surprise and he turned around to meet the eyes of Trillram who had come out of the dining room.

“Yes,” Slaine said nervously and observed the boy’s every move. His attention was on high alert.

“What have you been doing with that violin?” Trillram then asked and began walking up the stairs.

Slaine wanted to run up the stairs and hide his violin at those words. The older boy’s mocking eyes narrowed as he noticed Slaine’s nervousness.

“Nothing. I just-“ Slaine began to say but suddenly swung the violin case back as Trillram lunged his hand toward the case to grab it.

Slaine’s heart began beating harder in panic as he had barely managed to save the violin from the older boy’s dangerous hands. Slaine did not know what Trillram would do if he got his hands on the violin, and Slaine would not take any chances.

“Oh? Nothing? Are you a dumbass for real?” Trillram said and walked up the remaining steps to loom over Slaine to intimidate him by standing closer than Slaine would find comfortable. “Have you been playing the violin somewhere? I saw you come back with it yesterday as well.”

“N-no I haven’t,” Slaine lied and was about to take a step back to protect the violin when Trillram grabbed his shirt and pulled him close enough for Slaine to be able to feel his breath against his cheeks. The older boy’s breath smelled of coffee.

“Do you think I’m stupid? You know what happens if Cruhteo finds out that you have been playing it, right?” Trillram threatened with a sneaky smile on his lips - a smile Slaine did not like at all.

“I haven’t been playing!” Slaine said loudly and tried to pull himself away from Trillram’s grip but it was too strong to flee from. “Let me go!”

Trillram was about to speak when an even more threatening voice could be heard from the base of the stairs. It was calm and yet powerful enough to make a shiver rush down Slaine’s spine.

“Let him go, Trillram.”

Trillram clicked his tongue in annoyance for having been interrupted by his teacher and backed away from Slaine, who was terrified at this point.

‘ _He sees I am carrying the violin!_ ’ Slaine thought and swallowed hard to look at the blond man staring up at them while he rested his right hand on top of the cane he always had with him to brag about his position as a rich man.

“You need to practice on the violin, Trillram,” Cruhteo said and Trillram muttered something under his breath before he left Slaine and Cruhteo alone in the great hall by disappearing into the music room beneath the stairs.

Slaine tried to hide the violin behind him but he knew it was too late since Cruhteo’s eyes bore into him like a white-hot knife and stabbed Slaine’s confidence.

The man knew.

“Come down,” the blond man ordered calmly and Slaine held his breath as he slowly descended the stairs to stand with his head lowered in front of his guardian, who looked down at him with his head held high. “Have you been playing the violin?” the man asked and Slaine did not answer; he wanted to lie and tell him no but he knew Cruhteo already knew he had been playing the violin. “Answer me,” the man demanded and Slaine took a shallow and trembling breath to say:

“I have, but I did it in secret. No one heard me.”

“Are you sure?” Cruhteo’s voice snarled and Slaine nodded hurriedly.

“I promise. No one heard me, sir,” he lied to reassure the man.

Cruhteo stood completely still and silent for a while and stared at the boy, while Slaine bravely gritted his teeth to bite back his tears. He was so afraid for the violin's safety he could not breathe normally. Cruhteo despised him – even hated him for being the son to his family’s rival on the stage. Slaine’s father had succeeded far better than Cruhteo who had been in the spotlight ever since he had been a child. Cruhteo had become afraid that Slaine would continue his father’s legacy and steal the attention from Cruhteo’s son Klancain. The man’s pride had taken damage at Slaine’s father suddenly emerging from nowhere to unintentionally steal the spotlight from the prideful man, and the blond man held a grudge even against Slaine who had done nothing to him. The proud man even hated the thought that Slaine and Asseylum had become friends since he saw nothing but rivalry while looking at Slaine. The man had been acting nice and friendly toward Slaine every time Asseylum and her grandfather had been close by but once no one was looking he had become cold and cruel toward the boy. The only reason Cruhteo had accepted to take Slaine into his care was because he had found it to be the perfect opportunity to hinder Slaine from carrying on his father’s musical legacy.

Slaine knew Cruhteo wanted his violin since Cruhteo did not own an original Stradivarius violin, but the man could not take it away from Slaine due to legal reasons as it was the heritage from Slaine’s father. Slaine was afraid that Cruhteo would break it someday if the violin did not break by itself without the professional attention it required as soon as possible; Cruhteo waited for it to happen by not helping Slaine with the money it required to repair it. Cruhteo was administering the fortune Slaine’s father had left to his son since Slaine was too young to manage the money himself. Even if the money belonged to Slaine Cruhteo still held the responsibility to manage the fortune for Slaine’s best interest, but the man refused to give any of it to Slaine except only the outmost necessary amount he was forced to by law in order to pay for the providing of Slaine.

Slaine was nothing but miserable in his care. Since he had nowhere to go and no one to take care of him he had no choice but to stay under Cruhteo’s cruel care. He was old enough to live alone by himself but he still needed someone to sign the contract for an apartment, and Cruhteo would never sign it since he would not be able to control Slaine without have him live under the same roof as the man.

“Put the case down,” Cruhteo said suddenly and Slaine gritted his teeth hard enough his jaw ached, and did as he was told; he made sure to put it as far away from Cruhteo as he could reach. “Hold up your left hand,” he then continued and Slaine’s body froze completely from horror.

“Please…” he said quietly with a pitiful beg. “Please, don’t- AGH!”

Slaine was interrupted by an excruciatingly strong hit with Cruhteo’s cane against his cheek and the impact sent him flying. He hit his shoulder against the polished floor with a loud thud and gasped from the ache in his cheek and shoulder. He slowly opened his eyes slightly and saw his breath blur out his reflection in the mirror-like floor.

“Hold out your left hand against the floor,” he heard the man demand from somewhere above him, and Slaine hesitated. “I could deal out the punishment on the violin instead,” he threatened and pointed at the violin case with his cane.

‘ _No!_ ’

Without a second thought Slaine quickly held out his hand against the floor in front of Cruhteo’s feet and gritted his teeth for what was to come. He would rather damage his fingers and not be able to play the violin for days than not be able to play the violin at all. He would either break himself or let the violin break in his place, and the choice was not hard for him to make; he would protect the violin no matter what he had to sacrifice.

‘ _My dad entrusted the violin to me. I will not let you break it,_ ’ he thought as he closed his eyes and readied himself. ‘ _This is just a bad dream. It will be over in the morning when I wake up_.’ With that thought he distanced himself from reality – like he had done for the past two years in situations like these – and within a second his index and middle fingers were smashed against the floor by the handle of Cruhteo’s cane. A loud scream echoed in the hall.

“If I ever hear that people have heard you play the violin I will not be as merciful as today,” Cruhteo warned and then left to tutor Trillram – who was his student while his son Klancain was away on a tour as a violinist in a chamber music group.

“Y-yes sir,” Slaine managed to say with a broken voice as tears began flowing down his cheeks.

When Cruhteo finally had left him alone Slaine slowly got up from the floor and cradled his hurting hand against his chest. His damaged fingers were pulsating angrily and screaming for pain relief. They ached so horribly Slaine knew he would not be able to play the violin for about a week if not longer; the fingers began to swell up. They hurt more than his swollen cheek.

With a broken heart he picked up the violin case from the floor with his right hand and slowly walked up the stairs to enter his room. He laid the violin case onto his desk and let the backpack slide off from his back before he entered the bathroom and let the cold water from the faucet cool his aching hand.

He was used to the treatment and had been forced to endure threats from Cruhteo of breaking his fingers for two years now. The man had even taken a hold of Slaine’s index and middle fingers and bent them backwards enough to make the joints in Slaine’s left hand feel like they were burning. Luckily Cruhteo had never gone that far since Slaine had become so distant each time that there were no pleasures for the man to find by torturing him. If the man had broken Slaine’s fingers Slaine was convinced he would not be able to play the violin ever again. By playing the violin he felt like he was connecting with his father; if he would not be able to play it, it would mean the death of him and the legacy of his father.

“Dad…” he whispered and broke into a cry as he watched the water run from the faucet with a heavy heart. “You’ll be there when I wake up from this nightmare, right?”

♪♫♪♫

“Do you want some ice cream?” Inaho asked his sister who sat on a kitchen chair next to the dinner table and went through some personnel forms from work after she had prepared some other random papers which Inaho did not take interest in.

She had been sighing exasperatedly the entire time Inaho had been cooking lunch. It was Sunday – the day after Inaho had seen Slaine hurry away – and she was off from work. Even then she worked as hard as to take some of the work home in order to support both Inaho and herself. Inaho had offered to get a part time job to help her support them both but Yuki had refused and scolded him that he had to concentrate on studying. Inaho had ended up taking care of the household instead to relieve her of the work load at home; he cleaned the apartment, cooked all the day’s meals for both of them, washed and ironed the laundry, took out the garbage and so on. It was the only trade Yuki had accepted.

“Oh god yes!” she sighed and looked exhausted from the heat. She had already eaten up all the ice cream Inaho had bought the day before yesterday. “Is it too much trouble, Nao?” she asked. “You could buy something from the local store.”

“No, I will go downtown and get you your favorite ice cream,” Inaho said and lifted the pot with boiled eggs from the stove to cool them off under cold water from the faucet.

“You don’t have to, Nao,” she protested with concern. “You're spoiling me. The brand of ice cream is not that important.”

“I will go,” Inaho persisted and served their lunch, and after that he took the bus downtown with the hopes of seeing Slaine play again just like he had said he would yesterday during their ice cream meetup.

When he got to the street where the store stood and where Slaine would have been playing the violin he was disappointed to not see a crowd there or hear the beautiful sound of the violin. Slaine was not there.

’ _Has he already played or is he late?_ ’ Inaho wondered and decided to sit down on a bench to wait for the western boy to arrive and play for the unexpected crowd.

Slaine did not show up during the entire day, and he did not show up during the next day either. Inaho waited for him for two days more before he gave up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Update: Still working with AFWE; University has started and so I have been kinda busy. Since this A/Z Sonata-fic is already finished since a while ago I keep updating with this in the meantime.)


	4. Trill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inaho is finally out of his study and has tagged along Inko and Nina on their shopping spree along with Calm when the day offers him a sweet reunion with his latest lost friend. The reunion isn't as sweet as the ice cream Inaho had shared with the boy a while ago; now it has a bitter taste to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fourth chapter here!
> 
> The chapters are getting longer now. I hope you enjoy! :3
> 
> If you want to know which song inspired me to write this, it is the one Slaine says is his favorite in the 1st chapter. Follow this link to the exact version I used as inspiraton: [_Canon in D Major_ by Pachelbel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpvjNWGk4ss).

“Finally you’re out of your study. I was about to start worrying if you would become one of those shut in study dwellers,” Calm said and nudged Inaho in the side as they were accompanying Nina and Inko while they were shopping.

Inaho had finally decided to take a day off from studying and the gang had been happy to have him back in the group for the day. Everyone knew once Inaho got back home he would begin studying again and they would not be able to see him for a while, and thus everyone were cheery to finally be back together.

“Study dweller?” Nina asked and looked over her shoulder at Calm who was carrying her shopping bags, and she giggled. “Sound like a scary story.”

“Oh, it is!” Calm burst out and continued with a lowered voice like he was telling a horror story: “Study dwellers are people who have lost their soul to the evil spirits of eternal knowledge!”

“Oh, you mean teachers?” Inko said over her shoulder but Calm did not pay her any mind and continued:

“It starts with this assembly one morning where they gather all the kids and starts brainwashing them. Knowledge is fun and knowledge is power they would be saying!”

“It’s called an entrance ceremony,” Nina pointed out and Calm frowned slightly before he continued telling the story in a dramatic fashion.

“Some kids become obsessed with knowledge and forget how to live a normal life, and slowly they begin shutting themselves away from society and just keeps studying until their souls are completely lost and their eyes bleed from reading too much!”

“That is physically impossible,” Inaho said and Calm let out a complaining groan and pouted.

“Where’s your imagination, Inaho? Come on!” he complained and looked at the girls in front of him and Inaho. “At least you girls have imagination, don’t you?”

“Of course!” Nina said with a bright smile and her eyes began to tinder. “I saw this really cute guy two days ago at cram school who I haven’t seen before. I couldn’t stop imagining a date with him! I wonder if he’s an exchange student.”

Calm stared at her disappointedly for a while and then sighed heavily.

“Haahhh! You girls only think about romantic stuff. You’re wasting your imagination,” he complained and Inaho tilted his head slightly.

“Don’t you think about girls all the time? Your internet profile’s friends list is filled with girls,” he pointed out and Inko nodded and said slightly annoyed:

“Yeah, you only talk with girls and post cheesy stuff in order to have them give you attention.”

Calm muttered to himself about his posts not being cheesy at all and that girls liked him, but after a while he turned his attention to Inaho.

“You don’t have an online profile, do you?” he asked. “Don’t you want a girlfriend? You don’t show any interest in people.”

“I have an internet profile, but I don’t bother to use it. Also, I am interested in someone,” Inaho answered bluntly and the entire gang stopped to stare at him in disbelief.

“No way!” Nina squealed.

“You’re interested in someone?” Inko asked baffled and was closely followed by Calm who shouted:

“WHAT!?”

People stared at them for Nina and Calm making so much noise; just like Japanese people could expect from westerners. Inaho did not understand their shock since he had answered honestly that he was interested in someone. His definition of interest described a neutral state of curiosity and attention to something in particular and he had no idea what the others thought he meant. Slaine was the one Inaho had interest in; he was curious and wanted to listen to him play on the violin as well as learn to know him some more.

‘ _Because he is interesting._ ’

“Who is it?” Calm asked with a whisper as he leaned closer to Inaho with a teasing grin on his face. “How does this _interesting person_ look like?”

“Tell us!” Nina encouraged and the three of them gathered around Inaho to hear him explain.

“Blond, blue eyes, plays a violin,” Inaho answered candidly.

“A violin player!? Oh, so romantic!” Nina squealed again.

“Is she Japanese?” Inko wanted to know and Inaho looked over to her as he answered:

“No. European. It’s not a-“

“Age?” Nina interrupted him.

“16, but he-“

“European!? Woah! Is she tall?” Calm asked.

“Slightly taller than me, but-“

“What’s her name?” Inko inquired.

The questions came at such speed Inaho had a hard time concentrating on answering them since the constant flow of questions distracted him; he did not get a chance to properly answer any of them before the next came.

“Slaine,” Inaho answered and was about to once again explain Slaine was not a girl, but Nina did not give him any time to clarify Slaine’s sex before she said broodingly:

“Slaine… It’s an unusual name for a girl. It’s an unusual name all together.”

“That’s because-“ Inaho began but once again he was interrupted, and this time by Calm.

“Maybe it’s a name only popular in the country she comes from?” he wondered and the brunet became frustrated and did not care if he interrupted someone:

“It’s not a girl,” Inaho managed to quickly say before anyone else opened their mouth to speak. At that everyone stared at him with wide eyes and Calm’s mouth dropped open. “He’s a violinist who stood in the street corner in front of the store not far from here and played on his violin.”

“A street musician?” Inko asked quietly, still shocked from Inaho’s news that the European he had interest in was a boy.

Inaho only nodded as an answer since he did not want to tell anyone that Slaine was the son to the late European violinist – to whom Inaho had been listening to almost obsessively on the internet for the past week. Slaine had told him not to tell anyone who he was and so Inaho had respected his request and kept it a secret even from Yuki.

“Are you gay?” Calm suddenly asked so quickly it sounded like the words stumbled over one another as he spoke them. “Like, a homo?” He seemed to quickly have realized Inaho could interpret the word ‘gay’ according to its native meaning and not the way Calm meant it.

“I haven’t reflected on that,” Inaho said honestly; he did not care about what he was since it did not mean anything to him in the end as long as he was happy and contented. He was confused of why Calm asked that though since Inaho thought sexuality had nothing to do with interest in a person. “Would it make me homosexual if I show interest in a boy?”

“It certainly would!” Calm said still shocked but he had begun to slowly turn back to his usual self. “Or then you might be bisexual.”

“Wait, wait!” Inko said and seemed to think a little for a while before she continued: “I have known you for a long time now, Inaho, and I know you might interpret the word ‘interested’ as something else from what we mean. The real question we would like to know the answer to is if you have a crush on him.”

Inaho stared at her for a while and was grateful she had noticed his confusion of what the others had actually meant. He had only spoken honestly but it seemed like he had interpreted their answers as something different to what they actually meant. Inko saved him from a headache to bloom out.

“No. I am only interested in him as a friend,” he said.

He had to be honest with himself though; he did not know what a crush on someone felt like since he had never had a crush on anyone before. Since Calm, Nina and Inko spoke about interest and a crush as if the words were connected somehow he wondered how people knew when interest had turned into a crush. Were there different kinds of interest?

“Oh, you shocked me there,” Calm said and let out a heavy breath of relief. “I seriously thought you were homo for a while there.”

“Would it have been a problem?” Inaho wondered spontaneously – confused of why something like that would have shocked Calm.

“No no! Not at all. It’s just that I can’t wrap my head around the thought of you being into guys. I mean, you telling us you are interested in someone shocked us already, and we thought it was a girl at first since it’s kind of natural to think that. Then when we thought you had a crush on a guy it was even more shocking,” Calm explained and had managed to dodge Nina’s scolding which she had been charging up; she had looked like she was ready to yell at him would he not have explained himself properly.

“Where did he play? Shall we go and see if he’s there today?” Inko asked and Inaho felt slightly heavy-hearted.

“He hasn’t been back there for about a week. I have checked whenever I have gone to the store to buy some of Yuki’s favorite ice cream,” Inaho said and Nina smiled encouragingly.

“Who knows? Maybe he is back there today just because we bring you good luck?” she asked. “And I would love to hear someone play a violin!”

Without delay they began walking toward the store where Slaine had been playing on the violin. Inaho was not expecting him to be there and followed his friends with no anticipation. For some reason he had felt somewhat downcast ever since Slaine did not show up in front of the store the fourth day Inaho had gone there.

To his surprise the weak sound of a violin reached his ears and he looked up toward the direction it came from.

“Is it him?” Inko asked as she heard the violin too.

“Let’s find out! Come on!” Calm said and they began running through the crowd which was walking on the main street in a jumble of directions.

As they got to the street where the store stood Inaho saw the blond boy stand there in front of an audience with the bow stroking the strings while his fingers danced across them. The song was the main theme for an old movie but he made it sound different from its usual pompous sound; it was upbeat and joyful when he played it.

“So? You recognize him?” Nina asked and Inaho nodded feeling relieved and happy to see him play again.

“Yes, it’s him.”

"Oh my! He's so cute!" Nina then exclaimed once she got a better look of the boy. "I wonder if he has a girlfriend."

“Oh! I know that movie where this theme is from!” Calm said excitedly and did not pay Nina's comment any interest. “I watched it as a kid over and over again! I freaking love dinosaurs!”

Both Inko and Nina hushed at him to make him quiet and the trio enjoyed listening to the song along with the rest of the crowd. Inaho on the other hand could not stop staring at the bruises covering Slaine’s right cheek and his fingers on the left hand during the entire time of his performance. The blond boy played three movie themes before he had to take a break and the audience which had gathered there applauded enthusiastically, and Nina, Inko and Calm applauded in amazement.

“He was really good!” Inko exclaimed. “Why isn’t he famous?”

“Maybe someone hasn’t discovered him yet?” Calm wondered.

As the crowd had begun scattering and Slaine sat down to tune the violin Inaho walked over to him. Slaine looked up at him the moment he noticed Inaho’s steps and seemed surprised at seeing him at first but then smiled with the gentle smile Inaho remembered from before.

“Oh, hey,” he said and stood up from the ground with the violin in hand. “It was a while ago. How have you been?”

“What has happened to your cheek and fingers?” Inaho asked straightforwardly and Slaine jumped slightly from the sudden question. Inaho could not relax until he had learned the reason to Slaine’s injuries.

“Oh, this?” Slaine said and stroked his bruised cheek. “I had an accident at home. I’m pretty clumsy you see,” he smiled but Inaho knew he lied; the smile was not genuine at all; it did not reach his eyes.

“That was so amazing!” Nina shouted and hurried up to them. “The way you play is wonderful. I had goosebumps and tears in my eyes the entire time!”

Slaine looked surprised at her suddenly jumping up in front of him but then smiled genuinely again and gave her a slight bow with his head.

“Thank you very much,” he said while blushing.

“I’m Nina, Inaho’s friend. He told us about you today,” she said and reached out a hand, and Slaine shook it.

“He did? Nice to meet you. I’m Slaine,” he chuckled and Inko and Calm came up to them as well.

“Yeah, he mentioned he met this guy who plays the violin on the street in front of this store and we took a chance to see if you were here today,” Calm said. “I’m Calm. Your playing is cool! I bet you get girls like crazy!”

“Um…” Slaine looked completely disoriented at Calm’s exclamation. Inaho thought it was probably because he was not used to such outgoing people like Nina and Calm since Slaine himself was timid and withdrawn.

“Don’t listen to him,” Inko interrupted and blushed while looking at Slaine. “I’m Inko. I have never heard anyone play violin live before. It was really touching.”

“Thank you. I am honored you all enjoyed it that much,” the blond said shyly and bowed again.

“Where have you been?” Inaho wanted to know. “I was waiting for you here but you never came.”

Slaine’s smile disappeared and he frowned slightly. He was honest with his emotions and somewhat naïve since he could not hide his mood properly.

“Well, I was in an accident and had to rest for a while. I’m all right now so I decided to come and play again,” he explained nervously. “Are you here to buy ice cream again?”

He changed the topic deliberately. Inaho had been through enough awkward situations in his life due to his – according to others – emotionally detached nature, that his friends had had to explain his behavior many times to people. Inko and Yuki were experts in changing the conversation topic to take the attention away from Inaho’s social clumsiness.

“No,” Inaho said bluntly. “As Calm said just moments ago, we came to see if you were here.”

Slaine blushed even more and squatted down next to the violin case to gather up the money he had gotten before he placed the violin inside it with its bow.

“Then I can treat you all for ice cream,” he said smiled and closed the lid to the case. He gathered the money into the metallic box and after putting it back into his backpack he stood up and smiled to everyone.

“Really?” Calm said with wide eyes. “Aren’t you poor?”

Nina smacked Calm over his shoulder and the boy asked what he had done wrong, clearly not understanding the fact that he had been rude.

“Don’t be so rude!” Nina hissed.

“It’s all right,” Slaine chuckled. “I can treat you for ice cream. It’s no problem. Really.”

“That’s really nice of you,” Inko smiled, and all five of them entered the store where Inaho had been buying Yuki the ice cream now and then during the past weeks.

The moment they exited the store in good spirits Slaine suddenly stopped walking and stared into the crowd walking by the store while turning pale as a ghost. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead and his right hand gripped the handle to the violin case hard enough that his knuckles turned white. Inaho looked into the crowd and saw a boy slightly older than them with a bowl cut hairdo. The boy was staring at Slaine with a mean grin on his face before he disappeared into the crowd.

“Slaine?” Nina asked and tilted her head which sent her ponytails swaying. “Are you okay?”

“I…” Slaine said quietly and then took a deep breath. “I have to go. It was nice seeing you.”

Inaho knew something was not right. The grin on the other boy’s face had been menacing and told Inaho everything he needed to know about him; Inaho knew that grin all too well since he had been bullied as a child. That kind of smile never disappeared from ones memory no matter how old the victim of bullying got. The grin was the pleased smile of a harasser and suddenly all of Slaine’s injuries made sense.

“Come with me. I invite you for dinner at my place,” Inaho said to stop Slaine from hurrying away.

The blond boy had been about to walk away but stopped and stared at the brunet. His expression was of great distress and Inaho noticed Inko throw a concerned glance at Slaine as well while Nina seemed to notice something was off but could not register what it was.

“Inaho’s cooking is great! Lucky you,” Calm sighed complaining without realizing what was going on.

“I shouldn’t-“ Slaine began but Inaho did not give him the chance to finish:

“You can stay at my place if it gets late. I need help buying groceries anyway since my sister is working late tonight.”

Something in Slaine’s expression turned softer from relief and he nodded.

“If that’s alright with you I would enjoy that very much,” he said and bowed deeply this time.

“Make sure to play a little for Yuki – Inaho’s sister. She will explode from the surprise of hearing someone play violin for her,” Inko said with a chuckle. “Nina. Calm. Should we continue shopping and leave these two for grocery shopping? I find that kind of shopping boring.”

Inaho wanted to thank her for always being so attentive and quick to catch onto what was happening but did not know how to. He gave her a slight nod since that was the only way he knew how to thank her in this situation, and she nodded back and dragged the other two along toward the shopping street.

“Thank you for the ice cream!” Nina yelled before she disappeared into the crowd, and Slaine gave her a nod with a smile.

“Yeah! Thanks! See you sometime soon!” Calm yelled back and the next second they were gone.

Inaho looked at Slaine whose smile had faded once the others had disappeared into the crowd, and said:

"Shall we go?"

Slaine's gaze dropped to the ground between his feet and nodded in silence while he squeezed the handle of the violin case tightly with his slender fingers. The two boys left the street to get to the bus stop. A worry crawled around in Inaho's mind and he stared at the slowly melting ice cream in his hand. It did not taste as sweet as it should.

The bus ride to Inaho’s place was spent in complete silence. Inaho did not want to talk about what was going on in Slaine’s private life on the bus since he knew it would be uncomfortable for the blond to speak about sensitive things when strangers could be listening. Slaine made no attempts to speak either and seemed more nervous and worried than relieved to get to spend the night somewhere safe.

They arrived to the empty and quiet apartment after making a stop at the local grocery store. Slaine followed Inaho inside and quietly thanked him for his hospitality. Inaho gave him some indoor slippers from the cabinet next to the shoe rack.

“Where can I put the violin?” Slaine asked timidly and Inaho showed him to his room and removed the books from his desk to let Slaine put the violin case on top of it.

“It’s safe here,” Inaho said monotonously and Slaine thanked him as they left for the kitchen to prepare dinner. “Could you prepare the rice?” Inaho then requested and took out everything Slaine needed from the cupboards before he continued with preparing the meat.

“Um… I don’t know what to do really,” Slaine said somewhat awkwardly and Inaho remembered Slaine was from a wealthy family; the boy had probably never stood in the kitchen before.

“Do as I say then,” Inaho said and guided him through the steps of how to prepare the rice, and Slaine did it scrupulously to an almost ridiculous level.

They cooked in silence and Slaine helped Inaho in the little ways he could while being guided by the brunet. Inaho wondered how badly Slaine was bullied by the boy they had seen downtown and what their relationship was. For some reason Inaho could not help but to care about Slaine the moment he saw the older boy grin toward Slaine in the crowd. Was it because Inaho could relate to Slaine’s situation as a victim of bullying himself? He did not know since this was completely new to him as well but he knew he had saved Slaine from a bad situation.

As they sat down to eat Slaine hardly took a bite. He looked pale and tried to eat but it was like his appetite was completely wiped away by the grinning boy. The gentle smile had not showed itself on Slaine’s face since the moment they had seen the grinning bully and it made Inaho angry – not at Slaine but at the other boy.

“Aren’t you hungry?” Inaho asked and looked at the blond who wore an ashamed expression.

“I’m sorry… You went through all the trouble to cook and I don’t even have an appetite,” he answered quietly.

“You don’t have to eat it,” Inaho assured him. “I can put it in the fridge and we can heat it up once you do get hungry.”

Slaine lowered his head and nodded.

“Thank you… I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right,” the brunet assured and finished his meal before he tidied everything away and washed the dishes. Once he was finished he turned around toward Slaine and thought of what to say. The frustration was growing inside him as he was reminded of how bad he was at empathizing and sympathizing with others. “Who was that person in the crowd?” Inaho then finally decided to ask.

Slaine looked up at him with knitted eyebrows and stared at him for a moment to figure out what to say, and he then answered quietly:

“Trillram. He is my guardian’s student.”

“Was he the one to injure you?”

“N-no… He is not that bad,” Slaine said and lowered his head again.

‘ _So someone else is injuring you_ ,’ Inaho concluded.

“Who is worse than him?” he wanted to know and got an unpleasant expression from Slaine who clearly found Inaho’s question uncomfortable to answer.

The blond shook his head slowly and almost said with a whisper:

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Inaho was not satisfied with that answer. If Trillram was not bad enough to give Slaine such cruel injuries then who else was there to suspect but the guardian? Slaine’s situation seemed more difficult than Inaho had first thought; being bullied by someone was bad, but when not even Slaine’s home was safe for him then the situation quickly escalated in severity.

“Is it the one who takes care of you?” he asked frankly and Slaine bit his lower lip.

‘ _So it is the guardian_ …’

It was easy to learn the truth from Slaine despite the blond tried to resist his probing questions and keep his home situation a secret. The blond had such honest reactions Inaho barely needed to hear him speak. The brunet could relate to Slaine in a way; Yuki was excellent in reading Inaho’s emotions while everyone else were lost about Inaho’s feelings. Inko was close to Yuki’s skills in figuring Inaho out but Yuki was still the master in reading her brother. It was unpleasant to be read like that and Inaho wondered if Slaine felt the same way if he was aware of his truthful expressions.

“It’s not that bad…” Slaine finally said. “He is very strict and such but … he is just.”

“By hurting you like that? What did you do to deserve his justice?”

Slaine went quiet again but Inaho waited. He was in no rush and let him take the time the blond needed. Surprisingly Slaine looked up at Inaho after a couple of silent minutes with a smile but the tears running down his cheeks were in bright contrast to the gentleness on his lips as he said:

“I played on my dad’s violin.”

The situation the blond was in became immediately more serious than Inaho had expected it to be since the boy was abused for doing what he loved the most. He was glad Slaine had decided to finally be honest with him. Since the westerner had decided to answer Inaho’s questions Inaho understood the blond was indirectly asking for some kind of help. People only confided in others if they wanted support, be it active help by actually doing something for them or passively helping them by listening to their troubles. It was a behavioral pattern Inaho had learned was common for human beings who were not like him; him being so different compared to others had made the behavior of others obvious to him.

“Is that a bad thing?” Inaho asked. “To play the violin that is.”

Slaine nodded and dried his tears but they were instantly replaced with new ones.

“He hates it. He doesn’t want me to play at all because he hates my dad and me,” Slaine said with a trembling voice. “He doesn’t want people to know I am the son to the violinist who was more famous than him. He has taken away my right to be my dad’s son.”

“He punishes you if you play the violin? Was that why you told me not to speak about who you are to others that day I learned your identity in case rumors would spread and your guardian would know?” Inaho said and waited for Slaine’s reply. He knew he was right but he had to confirm it first, and Slaine nodded slowly.

“If the word would spread my guardian will learn that I have been playing in front of people and he will break the violin and my fingers,” the blond answered and held up his left hand and stared at the bruised fingers. “If he breaks them I might never be able to play a violin again.”

He paused and took a deep breath and hugged his injured hand close to his chest.

‘ _A violinist’s fingers are his or her tools. Without them they are nothing of what they have been working so hard to become,_ ’ Inaho thought and understood Slaine’s situation much better.

Slaine lowered his head again as he spoke:

“He learned I had been playing the violin the day I abruptly left you. He knew the moment he saw the violin case in my hand. I tried to sneak into the mansion without him noticing but Trillram caused a little commotion the moment he saw me. My guardian made me choose between the violin and me. I value my dad’s violin above anything else and so I let him injure me instead.”

Slaine should not have the need to choose. Both him and the violin had the right to be what they were and not have someone else to tell them what they were allowed to do and not. The situation sounded like one of Yuki’s love dramas which she loved to watch; it was a forbidden relationship Slaine had with the violin and it was only forbidden because his guardian said it was so.

“In the end a violin is only a violin,” Inaho said as he did not understand Slaine’s argument. “You are a living creature who can feel pain; a violin can’t do that and thus you should have more value no matter how old and expensive the violin is.”

Slaine looked up at him with anger flaring in his eyes and Inaho did not understand what he had said wrong – but he realized he had said something wrong in order to make the blond angry.

‘ _This is becoming frustrating_ ,’ Inaho thought. It was not Slaine’s fault and he knew that but he could not help but to feel annoyed at Slaine’s passionate emotions which made no sense to the brunet.

“It belonged to my dad!” Slaine said with a raised voice. “I saw him die while playing his _Aldnoah Sonata in D Major_ with it and I will never forget the sound from both him and the violin hitting the floor. It resonates in my head just like it did in the concert hall. I should hate it for killing my dad but it’s all I have left from him; I had to take it and continue where my dad left off. No other violin is good enough anymore. My dad _is_ the violin!”

The western boy was only feeling empty sentimental value which Inaho did not understand at all. If Slaine meant what he said literally then Inaho should be worried of the boy having a delusion. He might have been projecting the emotions he related to his father on the violin.

“I see,” was the only thing Inaho could say to that since he did not understand it. How could someone be so blinded by emotions that they could not see the difference between an object and a person? Slaine’s father was dead and the violin was the tool he left behind – nothing more, nothing less.

Slaine seemed to realize he had flared up and lowered his eyes in an apology.

“I’m sorry… I’m yelling at you despite that you saved me from my guardian for the night,” he whispered. “It’s just that … I have nothing else but the violin and my dad’s teachings. All I can do is to protect it because it’s the only thing I have which makes me happy.”

No matter what Inaho thought about the matter he knew it was true. The way the boy had made the strings sing on the street was proof that Slaine adored the vibrations he could create with the bow. Inaho had never had something like that and suddenly he was stricken with a feeling of missing out on something. What made him feel that he was alive? What made him happy? He just realized he did not know the answer and that was why he was annoyed with Slaine’s illogical reaction; the blond knew something Inaho did not know.

‘ _I do what I have to do while he does what he wants to do…_ ’

“I should be the one to say sorry,” Inaho said and Slaine looked up at him in surprise and confusion. “I can’t understand why the violin means so much to you because I’m not like you. All I can do is to think with reason since emotion is a language I’m not that familiar with.”

“What do you mean?” the boy asked while confusion played in his expression. “You don’t have any feelings?”

Inaho had gotten the same question many times from others when he tried to explain and he knew people did not understand him when he spoke about emotions like that. Other people who were not like him took emotions for granted but since Inaho lacked that kind of language he looked upon the ability to speak with them as something incomprehensible and thus illogical. He had wondered for a long time how people could communicate with exchanging only a look; to Inaho it was a mystery since all he knew what to communicate with was words. He even had difficulties of communicating his own emotions to himself.

‘ _What makes me happy in the same way as the violin makes Slaine happy?_ ’ he thought.

“Of course I do,” Inaho said and sat down in front of Slaine next to the kitchen table. “I just don’t know how to convey them to others and how to understand when others try to convey them to me. It’s like someone is trying to speak a foreign language to me; I don’t understand it and I can’t speak it. It leaves me in difficult situations while trying to socialize with people.”

Slaine looked confused for a while and then spoke to Inaho in a language Inaho had never heard before. It was probably the language from his home country and it had a charming tone to it, but Inaho had no idea what he said to him.

“It’s just sounds to me,” Inaho said and Slaine observed him for a little while before he smiled weakly:

“You reacted the same way as when I spoke about the importance of the violin; you didn’t react at all,” he said quietly. “Do you want to know what I said?”

“Is it worth knowing?” Inaho wondered and Slaine sighed somewhat frustrated.

“Do you always care so little about things?” the blond asked and Inaho kept staring at the boy.

“Why should I care about what you said?” he asked honestly confused and Slaine sighed once again from frustration.

“Because I spoke directly to you.”

“If you would have wanted me to understand you would have spoken to me in Japanese because that’s the only logical thing for you to do if you want to communicate with me.”

“Logical?” Slaine asked confused. “Are you trying to deliberately make me angry or do you really not understand the situation we have now?”

“What kind of situation?” Inaho wondered and Slaine seemed to give up and slumped against the kitchen table by resting his arms and head against it.

“Are you for real?” the blond mumbled.

“I should also say I think differently than others. That is why we have a situation right now which I don’t understand,” Inaho explained since he felt obliged to do so for some unexplainable reason; he cared about the fact that Slaine should understand him, and paradoxically he himself did not understand it at all. “I know I have said something wrong but I have only been honest with you without the intention of making you angry.”

“I think I believe you,” Slaine mumbled and looked up at him and smiled with the gentle smile which Inaho had not seen for a few hours. “It’s kind of refreshing actually. It makes me rethink things which I take for granted, like the words I speak with when trying to convey my thoughts to you.”

It was the first time someone had told Inaho his company was refreshing. He was not entirely sure what Slaine meant by it but he figured it had to do with Inaho not understanding why the violin was so important to him or why they had a mysterious situation right now which Inaho did not understand. To get such a positive response to something which had made others angry at him was surprisingly pleasant.

“Thank you,” Inaho said with his usual monotone voice as he clumsily tried to convey his feelings of surprise and relief as well as gratitude toward Slaine’s thoughts about the matter. He decided to give Slaine a break even if he did not understand Slaine’s need to let Inaho know what he had said moments ago, and asked: “What did you say before in your home language?”

Slaine smiled slightly brighter.

“I asked if you would like to be my friend.”

‘ _So there was worth in what he said…_ ’ Inaho thought and felt somewhat ashamed of not having asked Slaine what he said from the start. ‘ _If I never would have asked I would never have known. Is this the situation he meant?_ ’

The need Slaine seemed to have made sense and Inaho began to understand a subtle social language based on curiosity; if he never asked about things he would never get to know about them. He might have lost the opportunity to befriend the boy who was attracting Inaho’s interest more and more for each minute he spent with him. Inaho should not decide the value of something someone else thought, felt or said without asking about it and give the person in question a chance to present the value of it to Inaho instead.

“How do you say ‘yes’ in your language?” Inaho asked and Slaine smiled with such joy Inaho almost felt breathless of how striking Slaine was able to look, and the blond taught him the foreign word for it.

They spent about an hour teaching each other languages they knew. Even if Slaine spoke Japanese almost fluently he still had difficulties when the language got onto a more academic level; he could only converse fluently with casual everyday Japanese. Slaine taught Inaho advanced English and some random words in his native European language. It turned out Slaine knew three languages somewhat fluently and it made Inaho feel unexplainably jealous; Inaho could only speak Japanese and basic English.

“While talking about languages,” Slaine said and smiled. “Would you like to try playing on the violin?”

“You dare let me touch it?” Inaho asked, surprised by how friendly Slaine actually was; he was asking Inaho to play on his dearest violin.

“It won’t break or bite you. I will show you how to play a beginner’s melody,” he said and the boys moved into Inaho’s room.

Inaho watched the blond tune the violin since he had been interrupted while he had tried to do it on the street in front of the store downtown. As he finished he handed the violin and bow to the brunet. Inaho took them carefully and placed the violin against his neck and waited for instructions, and Slaine began guiding him. He taught him the anatomy of the violin and then the basic techniques as well as how to hold it. The first stroke Inaho took sounded like something from a horror movie. The string vibrated violently and screamed like its life was on the line and Slaine shut his eyes tightly and shivered.

“Don’t stroke it too hard. Let me show you,” Slaine said and walked up behind Inaho.

Slaine’s hands reached out from behind Inaho and he could feel the boy’s body slightly push against his. It made Inaho slightly giddy; he tried to concentrate on Slaine’s instructions but his entire attention was directed toward how close to him the boy stood. Slaine’s slender fingers grabbed Inaho’s hand holding the bow and Slaine’s gentle voice spoke right next to Inaho’s ear:

“Stroke it gently. Loosen up your hand a little and don’t apply too much pressure on the strings. Treat the violin with gentleness and it will sing for you.”

Slaine seemed completely comfortable with standing so close to him and did not seem to think much about it. The blond was probably used to it if it was common for the instructors to break the rule of personal space in order to tutor their students, but for Inaho the situation was completely new to him.

“Like this?” Inaho asked as he relaxed his hand holding the bow, and Slaine moved his hand around a little to feel how relaxed Inaho was in his wrist and fingers.

“Yeah, that’s great. Now try taking a note without pressing your fingers against the strings,” Slaine encouraged him and Inaho stroked the strings gently with the bow. This time the sound was far more pleasant than the first sound he had managed to create with it. Since Inaho was easily affected by music the feeling of the tune was pleasant; he was the one making it. “Excellent!” Slaine smiled. “This is a G on an open string,” he continued gently and asked Inaho to move the bow again over the thickest string. It sounded low and gentle. “Good. The next is a D on open string.”

Inaho stroked the slightly thinner string and a slightly brighter sound than the previous note was produced.

“How do I make more notes?” Inaho asked somewhat impatient. He wanted to learn more.

“Don’t be in such a hurry,” Slaine chuckled next to Inaho’s ear and a shiver of pleasantness and thrill ran down the brunet’s spine. Another shiver ran through him when he felt Slaine’s warm fingers position Inaho’s index finger onto the top of the D-string. “The open strings are easy, but if you put your finger here on the D-string it makes an E. Try it.”

It was impossible to concentrate and Inaho was grateful his giddiness did not show on his face or the way he moved, and he simply did as Slaine told him to. The E-note Inaho made, made a whistling sound and Slaine explained it was because Inaho did not press the string hard enough against the finger board. When Inaho tried again while pressing the string harder, the sound was immediately much more pleasant.

Slaine guided Inaho through all the notes. Having Slaine’s hands resting gently on Inaho’s as he showed him how to play the simple notes made Inaho feel calm and strangely happy. Physical connection was usually weird for him but this time it felt pleasant and enjoyable; it felt like his body was tingling violently and his heart raced in his chest. Hearing Slaine’s quiet voice so close to his ear contributed to the tingly sensation and at times it tickled his nerve endings. Inaho did not want it to stop.

After an hour of practice on the basic notes Slaine began showing him how to play a beginners song, and as the day had become evening Inaho had learned how to play the short song. The tune of the song was not clean or good due to it being Inaho’s first time but he still played it happily while Slaine sat on the edge of his bed and listened with his characteristic gentle smile on his lips. This kind of attention was completely new to the brunet. The atmosphere around the blond made him calm and he did not feel the need to pretend being like everyone else; he could be himself with the boy.

“That was great! You learn fast,” Slaine said excitedly as Inaho finished the song.

“It’s because you are a good teacher,” Inaho countered and Slaine got a blush on his cheeks.

“I just … do what my dad did to teach me,” he mumbled embarrassed and poked his index fingers together while the blush danced on his cheeks.

‘ _My sister would call him adorable_ ,’ Inaho thought and gave the violin back to the boy. ‘ _She would be correct._ ’

“Then your father was a good teacher as well,” Inaho said and Slaine nodded with a weak smile on his lips. The smile was colored by nostalgia as he remembered back in time.

“He was…” the blond boy said quietly. “The violin and his teachings are his legacy to me. I wish I could be able to play and show the world what my dad taught me and show them that he’s not dead; he lives on through the tunes I create with his violin.”

‘ _So that’s why the violin is important_ ,’ Inaho finally realized. The blond did not have a delusion as Inaho had first thought. He simply wanted to carry on his father’s legacy and remember him through playing on the violin; that was the only connection Slaine still had to his father and the only way for him to really remember him as well as honor him. Inaho still had difficulties of understanding it but at least he had learned Slaine’s reasoning a bit better.

‘ _If Yuki would disappear – how would I remember and honor her?_ ’ he thought. ‘ _But she’s not gone and so I can’t know..._ ’

“You know – when I play I sometimes close my eyes and feel the presence of my dad before he became obsessed with working and touring. It’s such a warm feeling to remember,” Slaine said quietly and stroked the violin before he looked up at Inaho with tears in his eyes. “I don’t want to forget that feeling and so I have to continue playing in order to remember.”

Inaho nodded and thought for a while before he said:

“You said your guardian would break the violin.” Slaine nodded. “Then leave it here when you return home tomorrow. I will keep it safe and you know where I live now so you can come and pick it up whenever you want during the evenings.” The European boy stared at him in disbelieving shock. “And you can play it here whenever you want,” Inaho continued.

Slaine slowly frowned as he stared at the brunet and then without a warning he got up from the bed and threw his arms around Inaho’s neck, still with the violin and bow in hand, and hugged him tightly and broke into a cry.

“Thank you,” he said trembling and Inaho felt the back of his shoulder slowly become wet with the boy’s tears. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!”

Inaho did not know what to do as the boy clung to his neck. Should he cling back? Should he say something? Awkwardly he raised his hands and placed them stiffly on the boy’s lower back and waited. Now that Inaho’s nose was close to Slaine’s neck he felt the boy’s scent; the boy smelled slightly of sweat due to the hot summer day but also of some kind of soap which reminded Inaho about a fresh summer breeze. Without realizing it he hugged the boy tighter, leaned his face against Slaine’s neck and shoulder to breathe in the pleasant scent, and they stood there for a while without saying a word.

‘ _Don’t let go_ ,’ Inaho thought as he relaxed along with Slaine who began calming down.


	5. Wolf Tone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuki comes home and Inaho's new friend is introduced to her. The evening is joyful and awkward but once morning comes the two friends have to part with a heavy feeling between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for abuse! (Again... But it's the last time, I promise!)
> 
> Sorry for the delay; I've just started an internship at a acute home for teenage girls, and so I have been really busy with long working hours and a lot has been happening there; I've been exhausted. Here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoy and dun get mad at me! xD

Slaine slowly calmed down and sniffled from time to time. Inaho enjoyed the hug they were sharing; just like the physical contact he had had with Slaine earlier as the blond taught him how to play the violin, this kind of physical contact was new to the brunet as well. His friends never touched him like the boy did and neither did Yuki as much as she had used to. This was the first hug Inaho had gotten in an awfully long while.

The door to the apartment opened and closed in the hall and the boys let go of each other. Slaine hurriedly dried the tears away from his face and cleared his throat as he prepared to meet this new person, and Inaho looked out into the hall where Yuki appeared with a tired expression.

“Yuki-nee, welcome home,” he said as he always did, and as he always did he felt slightly bad about her working so hard she exhausted herself.

“Hi,” she sighed and pulled her fingers through her black hair after finally returning home and be allowed to relax. Then she noticed Slaine as she came closer to Inaho’s room. “Oh? A visitor?” she asked and looked at the blond boy with surprise. Inaho knew it was because it was unusual for him to bring friends home.

“H-hello, Miss. I’m Slaine,” Slaine said and bravely masked his episode of crying from before. “You must be Inaho’s sister.”

Slaine shifted the violin bow to the same hand which held the violin and walked over to her to offer her a handshake. Yuki looked at the boy’s hand which he offered her and then at the violin, and then up at Slaine’s face.

“Nice meeting you too, Slaine. I’m Yuki,” she said and shook his hand – still shocked. “Are you a new friend of Inaho’s? I don’t believe I have ever seen you before.”

“Yes, we became friends today,” Inaho said and stepped forward as he realized he had been left a few feet away from Slaine and his sister.

“Today?” Yuki asked confused and even more shocked but then shook her head slightly and smiled with a frown. “Sorry, I’m just shocked Inaho has invited one of his friends home. It’s unusual of him.”

“It is?” Slaine asked with raised eyebrows and smiled a wry smile. “Then it’s an honor.”

“Slaine has been teaching me how to play violin today,” Inaho explained and Yuki took a step back from even more shock.

“What? Since when have you been interested in playing the violin?” she asked baffled and Slaine chuckled at her reaction.

“Since today,” Inaho answered and stared at his sister.

He knew she was beyond normal shock. He had never been interested in instruments before except the instruments used to measure data in physics. Musical instruments had never even crossed his mind until today and it was all due to Slaine having the ability to sweep him along into the world of violins.

“He is a quick learner,” Slaine said and smiled gently again. It was the smile which Inaho wanted to see every time he threw a glance at the blond.

“He is?” Yuki asked and tilted her head. The shock began subsiding and she smiled her friendly smile toward Slaine. To Inaho that was a sign she had already accepted Slaine as his friend. “Are you good at playing?” she then asked the blond and Slaine did not know what to answer.

“I have never heard anything like it before,” Inaho said to ease Slaine’s difficult position of not sounding too boastful by answering her that he was good. Inaho had the feeling Slaine would say he was not as good as he actually was since the boy seemed to not understand his own worth as a violin player, and it would be a lie if he said he was not good.

“Really now? That’s kind of amazing to be able to play the violin. I’ve heard it’s hard,” Yuki said and looked at the violin in Slaine’s hand again.

“It’s not that hard actually, although it depends on what kind of music you want to play with it,” Slaine answered and thought for a while. “The techniques you have to learn in order to play for example baroque are a nightmare but most people don’t go that far.”

“Why won’t you boys accompany me to the kitchen and let me hear you play a little?” Yuki asked with a bright smile. “Have you made dinner?” she asked while they walked through the hall and into the kitchen. Inaho nodded.

“It’s in the fridge. Slaine has to eat something too,” the brown haired boy reminded the blond.

Inaho let both Yuki and Slaine take the only two seats that were next to the kitchen table while he heated their dinner and served them in a manner like he was used to being homely.Yuki asked Slaine basic questions about him – the type of questions people always asked to get to know a new person. Slaine answered happily to questions about his age, nationality, his violin interest and other interests. Inaho got to know that Slaine – aside from the violin – enjoyed writing his own violin music and sometimes enjoyed drawing with coal pencils.

“Wow! You’re pretty artistic, aren’t you?” Yuki asked after they had finished their dinner.

“That is kind of the only trait I have,” Slaine said while frowning, minimizing his skills just like Inaho had expected him to; the boy was too humble.

“But not everyone can do that, can they?” Yuki pushed. “I can’t even draw a stick figure properly and I can’t play an instrument even if my life depended on it.”

The blond chuckled.

“Everyone can learn how to play an instrument. You just need interest for it and dedication. I have been playing for 11 years, and was it not for my dedication to keep pushing myself for those years I would not be a decent player today,” Slaine said – again minimizing his skills.

“You’re more than decent,” Inaho said feeling somewhat frustrated but his voice failed to convey that emotion. Yuki noticed it though by throwing a quick glance at him.

“Why won’t you play something for me and let me decide?” she asked and Slaine blushed.

“What would you want me to play?” he asked timidly and lowered his head shyly.

“You take requests?” Yuki asked surprised and picked up her phone to search for a song. “What kind of music can you play with a violin? I don’t know what to pick.”

“Can you play one of your favorite songs for me?” Slaine asked somewhat concerned to make Yuki go through the trouble of finding a song. “You don’t have to search for anything in particular. Just play whatever you want.”

Yuki looked up at him somewhat disbelieving.

“What if you haven’t heard the song before?”

“It’s no problem,” Slaine said with a weak ember of confidence – a beautiful display of Slaine’s own sureness in his violin skills which Inaho got to see for the first time. It was enjoyable to finally see some kind of self-reliance in the boy.

Yuki searched for a song in her phone and played it for Slaine who listened intently with his eyes closed. It was one of Yuki’s typical songs which she listened to almost every day; a classic rock song from the 80’s. In the middle of the song Slaine placed the violin against his neck and raised the bow. He waited to find the tempo before he began playing along with the song. He played slowly at first to test the waters of the song but by the time he asked Yuki to replay the song he had found himself comfortable enough that he slowly began building up the technical level along with the melody.

At first it was quiet and he struggled to find the correct notes when the melody changed, but then the vibrations from his violin became stronger and more confident. When he heard the song for the third time he played on two strings with almost each stroke and his fingers began moving so quickly over the strings that neither Inaho nor Yuki could see what he was doing. It sounded like he was playing on two violins at the same time and he got a joyful smile to his lips which widened the longer he played – until he smiled so brightly Inaho felt his heart skip a beat. Inaho could not look away. He had never seen the boy so alive before and he had trouble to know what to do with his breathing. In the end he held his breath to calm down the giddiness inside him. He had never heard Slaine play with such advanced skills and for the first time in his life he could honestly admit to himself he had been overwhelmed.

Yuki stared at Slaine for a while without knowing what to think and then her jaw dropped. Her eyes widened at listening to Slaine play so effortlessly to a song the boy had never heard before. Inaho expected her to explode any second from amazement.

When Slaine made the last stroke on the strings to end the song the two siblings only stared at him without knowing what to say. Yuki still gaped like she had gotten a stroke and Inaho finally released the breath he had been holding; his lungs had been screaming without him realizing it. The blond on the other hand looked at them both and the longer the silence the more nervous he became.

“Um… Was it not good?” Slaine asked uncertainly and looked like he was about to cry.

Had he not realized how well he had played? Inaho could not understand how he could even think the thought that he had not been good enough to make both Inaho and Yuki lose their speech.

“You…” Yuki said breathlessly. “Who the hell are you? That was so freaking amazing I have no words to say! Do you have any idea how good you are!?”

“I…” Slaine said hesitantly and frowned. “Th-thank you but I… I don’t…”

“Accept the compliment, damn it!” Yuki said and stood up from her chair with eyes gleaming to lean closer to Slaine, who leaned back with a frightened expression. “It’s okay. You are allowed to say you are good. Hell, you’re even better than the world’s greatest violinist! You are a prodigy!”

Slaine blushed so intensely his entire face went crimson and it reached all the way up to the tips of his ears. Inaho remembered the title of the greatest violinist in the world, which Slaine’s father had had while he had been alive. The late man still owned that title since no one had been able to become as great as him even two years after the man’s death. Inaho had studied Slaine’s father’s work and been completely immersed in listening to him during the past week and it was now that he realized that the son was close to surpassing his own father; the world’s greatest violinist had a successor who would even exceed him if he continued to advance.

‘ _He needs to be allowed to play_ ,’ Inaho thought. He realized he was awfully invested in Slaine’s violinist skills as well as the boy’s wellbeing; it was confusing.

“Can you play another song?” Yuki asked and sat down on her chair again but looked like a hungry beast as she stared at Slaine.

“S-sure,” he mumbled shyly and he made himself ready, and once again he overwhelmed the siblings in their little kitchen by playing a classic rock song he had only heard twice, like he was in total control of the violin.

And so he was; he was a master at what he did at only 16 years of age.

“Where did you find him, Nao?” Inaho’s sister asked in complete amazement and looked over to her brother who still stared at Slaine.

“On the street downtown,” her brother answered quietly and stared at Slaine. “You didn’t play this well back there. Why?”

Slaine looked uncomfortable and lowered his head to hide from Inaho’s and his sister’s gaze, and it made Inaho understand why he had been holding back on the street. If he showed people how good he actually was rumors about him was sure to spread and his abusing guardian would learn about him playing in secret.

‘ _So that’s why he was so happy to play just now; he got the chance to let go_.’

“I can relax here and I got swept away,” Slaine mumbled quietly and confirmed Inaho’s conclusion. Slaine behaved like he was ashamed and regretted he had played to the upper limit of his violin capabilities. “I haven’t had the chance to let myself play freely without limiting myself in a long while.”

“Why on Earth are you limiting yourself? You shouldn’t need to hide your – oh, I don’t even know what to call it! – divine violinist skills and instead be a god on a stage, or something! I’m serious; I don’t know much about violins but you almost gave me a heart attack when you began playing like that. And what were you doing on the street when you should be in the biggest fully booked concert hall there is?” Yuki said exaggeratedly to vent her honest feelings about Slaine’s way of playing.

“Th-thank you,” Slaine said while he kept blushing. He bowed deeply to her that he almost hit his forehead against his empty plate on the kitchen table. “My situation is complicated and it requires me to limit myself.”

“That sounds like a bad situation,” Yuki said and frowned concerned.

“N-no… It’s only complicated and I would not like to talk about it if it’s all right with you?” Slaine said respectfully. He was passively defensive – something Inaho knew Yuki would notice due to her being more attentive than anyone else Inaho knew because of her work.

“Sure,” she said with a weak smile but in reality she was just hiding the suspicions Slaine had awakened in her. “Take care of that skill of yours – or should I call it an instinct even? I would love to hear you play more!”

“It’s starting to get late,” Inaho reminded her and his sister pouted. “Slaine will be staying the night. I am sure he can play for you another day.”

“I need to tune the violin anyway since the pegs are weak, and I did play pretty hard on it,” Slaine mumbled and stroked the violin gently in a way like he thanked it for working so hard to satisfy his whim.

“Oh, it’s broken?” Yuki asked surprised. “I didn’t notice.”

“It’s not broken,” Slaine said quietly. “It’s just a little damaged. It’s nothing serious though. It can be fixed.”

“It must cost a lot to fix a violin, huh? Oh well, I shall prepare a bed for you,” Inaho’s sister continued and got up from her chair. “It was really great to hear you play. Honestly. Thank you.”

“T-thank you for enjoying it,” Slaine said with a small smile.

“You can wash the dishes, Yuki-nee,” Inaho said to stop his sister from leaving the kitchen. “I can prepare the bed.”

Yuki agreed with Inaho’s idea and let the boys disappear into Inaho’s room. The brunet began moving the chair standing next to the foot of his bed to make room for the mattress on the floor. Slaine frowned as he saw Inaho do that.

‘ _Does he think I am going through too much trouble for his sake?_ ’ Inaho thought. He had learned to recognize Slaine’s thoughts pretty quickly due to the blonde’s honest expressions, and his suspicion was confirmed when Slaine said:

“Um… I can take the couch.”

“No, you should sleep on a proper mattress,” Inaho insisted. “The couch is too small.”

Slaine lowered his head slightly again. He always did that when he was either embarrassed or ashamed of something, or was feeling guilty for reasons which only he seemed to find. Inaho had noticed the blond always blamed himself whenever someone tried to be nice to him. It did not matter if it was a compliment or a nice gesture which the other person wanted to do – the boy seemed to think he was being troublesome no matter what the situation. Even if Inaho lacked the understanding for others’ emotions he was good at reading their behavioral pattern and puzzle it together with previous end results; he had always been the odd one observing everyone else in order to try and figure out how to behave with people. That had left him with an analytical mind even if he knew it was pretty defective since he did not have nearly enough experience of other people to call it good – but it was useful nonetheless, especially with the European boy.

Slaine was about to open his mouth and Inaho had the feeling he would begin protesting.

“Or do you want to share the bed if you think I am going through too much trouble for you?” Inaho asked bluntly before Slaine had the time to speak. “It’s a standard 120 cm bed so it might be a little tight for two, but if you don’t mind it I don’t mind it either.”

For Inaho it was the second rule of personal space that he broke. Sharing his bed with someone was something he had never done before except when he had been a child. As a teenager he had protected his personal space pretty strictly but after Slaine’s little violin lesson Inaho had gotten the taste for more. Slaine had not given him the chance to protest before he had gotten close to him to instruct him. Sharing a bed with the blond was probably not uncomfortable at all and if it was all right for Slaine Inaho wanted to try it.

Slaine blushed terribly at Inaho’s question and the brunet feared he might have stepped over some kind of social line he was not aware of.

‘ _But I want to…_ ’ Inaho thought and came up with an idea. ‘ _What if I…?_ ’

“Make up your mind. I can take out the guest mattress and prepare a bed for you, or then we share the bed and I don’t need to go through a fuss with the mattress,” he said and instantly Slaine’s eyes widened with concern and he gritted his teeth for a while; he did not want Inaho to go through a fuss in order to prepare a bed for him.

The blond looked nervous as he tried to decide.

“Um… I don’t want you to go through too much trouble for me, but…” he mumbled and Inaho sat down on the bed to wait for him to decide.

“You had no problem with standing close to me while teaching me play. Is sharing a bed different?” Inaho asked and Slaine’s cheeks turned even more crimson than before.

“N-n-no, not at all!” Slaine exclaimed nervously. “I-it’s just that I have never slept next to someone before.”

“It’s all right. I haven’t done that either,” Inaho said and Slaine stared at him for a while with awkward expression playing in his eyes.

Inaho stared back at him for a couple of seconds but then continued:

“I decide then. We will share the bed.”

“O-okay,” Slaine stammered and hurried to clean the violin and put it back into its case. Then he awkwardly continued with taking his t-shirt and shorts off, and quickly slipped under the summer duvet which he shared with Inaho.

Inaho was satisfied with where he had gotten Slaine. Even if the blond had his back turned toward the brunet the scent from the other boy was wonderful, and the sight from the slender neck hiding behind the blond hair was a comfortable sight even in the darkness. Two teenage boys sleeping on the bed made it a tight squeeze but Inaho would not have complained even if the bed would have been a size smaller. Somehow he wanted to be close to the other boy.

“What will you do tomorrow?” Inaho asked after a while of silence.

He heard the rustling of fabric when Slaine squeezed the pillow under his head with his fingers. His shoulders tensed and he sighed heavily.

“I don’t know…” he whispered. “I think Trillram saw everything when I played on the street and has told my guardian about it. He might break my fingers when I return home.”

Inaho stared at his neck for a short moment. Why did Slaine insist on protecting his guardian when he was being abused? Why was he abused at all? How could a grown man feel so threatened by a timid 16 year old boy? If it was because Slaine was good with the violin then it was a bad excuse; no matter how good Slaine was there would still be plenty of room in the spotlight for other violinists.

‘ _Pride?_ ’

“Then don’t go back,” Inaho suggested and Slaine slowly turned around to look at him with knitted eyebrows.

“Then where could I go?” he asked with a whisper. “He has everything I own and manages the fortune my father left for me. I will have no money and who would want to take me in and pay for my living expenses?”

Inaho would have suggested an orphanage in normal cases or then an adoptive family but as an orphan who had lived in an orphanage he would advise anyone from living in a place like that if there was another option. It had been a dark time in Inaho’s short life.

“Move in with me and Yuki,” the brunet said. “There must be something in the law which governs your guardian’s right to manage your money that you can use to your advantage.”

Slaine smiled saddened and shook his head; his blond hair got tangled as it was rubbed against the pillow.

“I saw how exhausted your sister was after work. I can’t put any more responsibility or work on her shoulders. And besides, I’m still just a stranger.”

“Then would you rather have your fingers broken and never play again?”

“I can learn to play with my other hand,” Slaine said trembling. “There are plenty of left-handed violinists who can play on the strings with their right hand.”

‘ _He will just break the fingers on your other hand as well_ ,’ the brunet thought.

Slaine was just making excuses – empty excuses that protected his guardian from taking responsibility for all the bad he had done to Slaine. Inaho had to consult his sister about the matter; Slaine was not thinking straight and since Yuki worked in a police station she surely handled cases of child abuse almost every day and would know what to do.

‘ _Why do I care so much?_ ’ the brunet then thought perplexed. He could not help but to care. It was like a urge in him to make sure Slaine was well.

“Do what you want in the morning. I have cram school tomorrow so we will be getting up early,” Inaho said instead of continuing their conversation, which would lead to nothing due to Slaine’s warped thoughts.

“Sure,” Slaine said with a weak smile and closed his eyes. “Thank you for letting me stay the night, and thank you for the dinner. It was really good.”

“You’re welcome. Good night,” the brunet answered, and Slaine yawned.

“Good night, Inaho.”

♪♫♪♫

Leaving the violin gave him an uneasy feeling. It distressed him as he left the violin on top of Inaho’s desk in the apartment. Slaine had never left the violin somewhere which was not his own room; he had never been far away from it until now. Walking down the stairs in the apartment complex with Inaho had been difficult as each step he took increased the distance to the violin.

“Keep contact with me,” Inaho had said to him and given Slaine his phone number on a small piece of paper. “I will be home at four today.”

Slaine had hurried to scribble down his own phone number to return the favor, and Inaho had taken the scrap of paper without a word. The boys had stared at each other for a while before they parted with a simple “I’ll talk to you later tonight”. All Slaine had wanted to do was to accompany Inaho to his school and find any kind of excuse he could think of to not return home to Cruhteo. He knew what waited for him there and it seemed like Inaho had known about it as well. Even if the Japanese boy did not say much or let his thoughts and feelings show on his expression Slaine knew he was worried for him. The long time they had been staring at each other had been enough proof of that. It made the blond feel guilty.

‘ _He should not need to be worried for someone like me; I’m not that special_.’

Slaine took the bus to downtown and he wandered around the still sleepy town while he tried to find courage to go home. It was still early in the morning and no stores had opened yet except a 24/7 open convenience store in a corner to a shopping mall. Inaho had told Slaine he could stay at his and his sister’s place but Slaine had refused; he could not involve them in the mess he was in. They should not need to fix his situation since they had nothing to do with it.

He made a stop at the convenience store to get some coffee and then sat down on a bench to drink it in peace. He had not had any breakfast since he had been too nervous for what was to happen once he got home; eating was impossible due to the sickness he felt.

‘ _Not that I can call it a home…_ ’ he thought saddened and stared at the lid of the coffee cup in his hand. The little opening steamed from the hot fluid inside the cup; even if the summer was hot the nights and early mornings were slightly chilly and the warmness of the cup felt somewhat comforting.

When the stores began to open up he decided to return home. He took the bus to the usual stop where he always got off and then walked through the villa district. The houses in the area were huge and screamed with luxury but to Slaine they were nothing but status symbols for the rich; a useless contest with their neighbors to flash the amount of money they had on their banks. Cruhteo’s mansion was not the biggest in the area because it was only used during the summers; the man lived in Berlin during winter. Despite that the mansion certainly made up for it with the pompous driveway decorated with statues and perfectly trimmed bushes – and the pearly white gates were designed to look welcoming but to Slaine they were the gates to an inferno of hate and anger.

The gates came into his view and he slowed down his steps as he stared at them. Hesitantly he picked up the keys from his pocket and with his heart squeezing tightly in his chest he blipped the little key tag against the digital lock and entered the four digit code, and the gates opened quietly.

The front door was locked as usual and Slaine unlocked it with the key tag and code. Quietly he pushed down the handle and peered inside the hall. He could hear a voice from the lounge further away and slowly he entered and closed the door behind him. Instead of acting according to his impulse and run up the stairs to hide in his room he walked toward the lounge. He could not hide forever.

“… am very grateful that you called. This is excellent news, Sir Rayvers.”

It was Cruhteo’s voice. He was talking to the musical director Sir Rayvers on the phone – it was nothing unusual for him to do since the man looked up to the director.Vers Philharmonic Orchestra had been on hiatus due to their director Sir Rayvers falling ill two months ago, but it seemed like Sir Rayvers had gotten well enough to continue working again and so Cruhteo would become busy in the near future. It was a relief for Slaine to know the man would not be home as much once the orchestra would start touring in Europe and later in America again; he would get a chance to breathe without constantly being afraid of the man as Slaine would be left hidden in Japan.

Slaine waited behind the door for Cruhteo to finish his call and once the room went quiet Slaine took a deep breath and revealed himself for his guardian; with a lowered head he stepped through the door to the lounge and waited. He could feel Cruhteo’s gaze burn against his skin and Slaine’s heart began beating wildly. He wanted to run. He wanted to hide.

“So you finally decided to come home?” he heard the man snarl. “Where have you been, Slaine?”

Slaine squeezed his hands tightly.

“At a friend’s house,” he answered quietly and heard the leather couch creak as the man got up from where he had been sitting on his usual spot; beneath a great painting of a lake during a sunset.

“Since when have you gotten friends, boy?” he heard the man’s voice say from a closer distance than before. The voice was quiet and calm but a great anger boiled beneath the calm surface of it. It made Slaine’s skin crawl.

“S-since about a week ago…” Slaine tried to answer bravely but his voice failed him; he could only whisper as the fright took the strength away from his lungs and vocal cords.

Cruhteo stepped closer and Slaine stopped himself from backing away. The end result of their confrontation would not be any different if he would try to run away; he had nowhere to run. His guardian picked up a cell phone from his breast pocket and fiddled with it for a moment before Slaine could hear a violin play from the phone’s speakers. It was him playing.

“Trillram came home yesterday to show me this,” Cruhteo snarled and held the phone in front of Slaine. The blond slowly raised his eyes to look at the video playing on the screen and saw himself stand in front of the crowd from yesterday. He looked so happy in the video. “How long have you been doing this?” Cruhteo then demanded to know with a hiss and Slaine averted his eyes again to stare at the floor.

Slaine’s blood ran cold at the man’s suddenly hateful tone. His body began trembling and his chest felt tight.

“S-since about a month,” he whispered.

“Speak up, boy!” the man said angrily.

“A month!” Slaine whimpered louder. “But I held back! No one has heard me play properly!”

The lie and excuse would not save him – he knew that – and yet he could not help but to try as well as hope that Cruhteo would show him some kind of mercy hearing it. His head exploded with pain as Cruhteo hit him with the back of his hand right across his already bruised cheek, and Slaine’s neck protested violently as the hit forced his head to the side. Before he had the time to recover from the shock and disorientation of what had just happened another slap hit his left cheek. He stumbled backwards from the strength of the slap which made him momentarily lose his footing. Both of his cheeks were pulsating with pain.

“How dare you!?” Cruhteo yelled. “How dare you do something like that when I have forbidden you to play the violin!? Where is it!?”

Slaine gritted his teeth and refused to speak a word of where he was keeping the violin. He would never let Cruhteo know about Inaho and that the Japanese boy was keeping his violin safe from the man’s destructive hands. Come what may – his father’s violin would be kept safe even if Slaine would have to pay a dear price to protect it. Despite his resolution his trembling body began shaking visibly; he was so afraid that the reality of the situation felt like a horrible dream.

‘ _This is not happening_ ,’ he told himself quietly. ‘ _This is not real; it’s just a bad dream so bear with it. It’ll be over in the morning._ ’

It had to be. The thought was his only consolation.

“So you are hiding it?” Cruhteo finally said as Slaine had stayed silent long enough the man’s patience had run out.

This time a much harder object hit him against his head and he crashed into the table in front of the leather couch from the hit. The edge of the table cut into his side and it felt like something broke inside his chest. A pained whimper escaped his lips as he collapsed to the floor and tears rolled down his cheeks from the stabbing pain in both his head and chest. Something warm trickled down his left temple and his vision spun.

‘ _Dad…_ ’ he thought and closed his eyes. ‘ _You’ll be there when I wake up from this nightmare, right?_ ’

“I will not let you distance yourself from the situation again,” Cruhteo said sternly and Slaine heard steps come closer to him. Then the voice was heard from somewhere directly above him: “Let me show you how real your situation in fact is.”

A strong hand grabbed his left wrist to lift his body from the floor. He hung like a ragdoll in the man’s grip and another hand grabbed his ring finger. He opened his eyes to hazily look at what was happening and saw Cruhteo’s cold blue eyes stare back at him while the man was holding his hand and finger in a stern grip.

“Let’s start with the weakest finger; the finger you will have the most difficulty to rehabilitate,” the man said with a chilly tone to his voice.

Before Slaine had had the time to begin protesting a horrible snap attacked his ears and an intense pain shot through his body from his left hand. It hurt. It burned. His vision darkened at the pain and a loud scream tore at his throat. Panic rose in him when he slowly began realizing what had happened; Cruhteo had bent his finger backwards making it snap, and with it Slaine’s violin skills had been ruined. He would never be able to play it; his father would never be able to play again through Slaine’s hands and fingers; now his father was truly dead.

“PLEASE!” Slaine yelled with tears flowing down his temples as Cruhteo took a hold of his middle finger and began bending it backwards as well. He had to save whatever was left of his ability to play the violin. He did not care about the pain coming from his chest as he screamed: “DON’T! PLEASE!”

Cruhteo stopped to look at him with those eyes which gave Slaine the same value as that of an insect. Slaine did not care what kind of eyes Cruhteo had while looking at him; he would grovel at his feet if he had to in order to save what was left of his ability as a musician; what was left of his father.

“You know it’s either you or the violin, Slaine,” the man said cruelly. “I will not let you outshine my son or the granddaughter of Sir Rayvers like your father did to me. A northern family from a small country with nothing to offer the world will not be allowed to steal the glory and pride from my or Sir Rayvers’ family.”

“Please!” Slaine cried. “Please! Don’t do this! I will never be able to play!”

“That is my intention,” Cruhteo said pleased and slowly began bending Slaine’s middle finger toward the back of the boy’s hand.

Slaine grabbed the man’s hand which was holding his, in a panic. He forced himself up to stand but Cruhteo let go of him and instantly pushed him down again with a forceful motion which almost knocked the wind out of the boy as his back hit the floor.

“P-please…” Slaine cried silently and tried to get up from the floor again. “There will be nothing left of my dad…”

Slaine was allowed to get up this time and even if he was unsteady on his feet the blond boy managed to stand and hung his head while he whimpered:

“I will play in your name. Just don’t … kill me like this… I gave a promise to never stop playing.”

Cruhteo did not know what to say at first and just stared at him while Slaine tried to find some kind of mercy by standing in front of him like a pitiful but brave child. Slaine had been forced back into reality by having one of his fingers broken; he had not been able to flee from reality like he used to do whenever Cruhteo abused him. Now he was forced to face the reality of his personal hell and he found he had no way of dealing with it except by begging for mercy. He did not care how pathetic and unsightly it was of him. He could only beg to save the violin talent his father had taught him.

“Like that will make any difference,” he heard the man growl after a while and he grabbed Slaine’s t-shirt collar and pushed him away to stare at him with disgust. “Who cares if you play in my name?”

‘ _Trillram… He’s your student! Claim my father’s teachings as yours! Just let me play the way he taught me!_ ’ Slaine thought desperately.

Slaine wanted to bargain with Cruhteo to save his violin talent but the man did not give him a chance as he took a hold of Slaine’s left middle finger again to continue bending it backwards – and the blond screamed in panic as it slowly hurt more and more.

“And why would I care about your filthy promise to your father to keep playing?” Cruhteo said loudly to drown out Slaine’s screams. “That has no value for me.”

“I didn’t-!” Slaine began as an attempt to save his finger from breaking but it snapped and a horrible pain bulleted through his body again.

The scream emitting from his throat echoed in the mansion like a howl of a ghost and his vision went white for a moment as he fell to his knees when his legs finally gave way beneath him. He was dizzy and sick, panicked and slowly began drifting away. A sharp pain attacked his head once again and he barely managed to hold himself up from the hit, but since Slaine did not even have the strength to make a sound he slumped face down onto the floor. His vision began spinning uncontrollably. The pain numbed everything in him. It felt like he was tumbling around despite he was lying completely still on the floor.

“I didn’t promise…” he whispered as he tried to keep himself conscious. “… my dad…”

He saw a blurry image of Cruhteo stare down at him as the man loomed over him.

“Then who?” the man demanded to know.

‘ _So you do care to know that much?_ ’ the boy thought.

“She told me … during the funeral,” Slaine whispered. “… that no matter what, I should keep playing to honor my dad…”

Cruhteo went quiet for a while and Slaine could not keep his eyes open any longer. He closed his eyes and took a strained breath to sigh tiredly. He was exhausted and felt drowsy.

“Who?” he heard Cruhteo demand once again.

“Asseylum… She made me promise…”

At that the boy fell unconscious and finally got to distance himself from the cruel reality he was living in to get a moment of rest.

♪♫♪♫

The signal rang for a while. Inaho walked toward school with his cellphone pressed against his ear after he and Slaine had separated minutes ago.

“ _Nao?_ ” he heard his sister say when she finally answered her private phone. “ _Why are you calling me this early? Has something happened?_ ”

She was quick to understand why Inaho had been calling.

“Yuki-nee, Slaine went home. You should send a police car there,” Inaho said immediately.

The other end of the call went quiet for a while except for the busy sounds in the background and then Yuki finally said:

“ _So his situation is more than complicated? I thought something was fishy with how he behaved yesterday._ ”

“You should hurry,” Inaho urged her. “There’s not much time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example of how Slaine would have been playing in the kitchen to Yuki's songs: ["Sweet Child Of Mine on Violin/Fiddle"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cksvLRO8YaY). Original "Sweet Child Of Mine" by Guns N' Roses.


	6. Legato

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slaine wakes up from his unconsciousness in an unfamiliar room and has an unexpected visitor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are things looking up for Slaine now? Oh my... Only two chapters left after this!

He opened his eyes and saw an unfamiliar ceiling. His body felt heavy and his mind was fuzzy enough to not even begin wondering where he was. His thoughts were muddy and he took a deep breath in an attempt to clear his mind.

“You are awake, Slaine?” he heard a man say next to him and Slaine slowly turned his head to look at who spoke to him. His neck was stiff and his head began aching immediately. “Welcome back,” the man with dark hair said and closed a book which he had apparently been reading. The man was wearing an expensive looking summery white shirt along with beige trouser and dark brown leather shoes. He sat like a noble on the chair with a metallic frame that looked like it had an uncomfortable cushion. That was when Slaine noticed the IV therapy stuck to his arm. It hung on a metallic frame and dripped quietly, feeding him with the clear liquid contained in the plastic bag.

“Saazbaum,” Slaine said quietly as he remembered the man he had not seen for years. His voice was hoarse from not being used for a while and his throat felt dry. “What are you doing in Japan?”

Slaine’s head ached each time he spoke and his cheeks felt swollen. He could not remember why.

Saazbaum was supposed to be in Berlin, Germany. What was he doing here far away from home, and why was he sitting next to Slaine in the unfamiliar room?

“Just rest for now and let us talk later,” the man answered but Slaine sighed.

“I’m awake and alert,” he said quietly but was not completely sure of how true his words were. “Where am I?”

Saazbaum looked at him for a while. The man probably tried to evaluate Slaine’s condition if he was all right enough for talking, but after a while Saazbaum gave in to Slaine’s protest:

“I was asked by Sir Rayvers to come here and check on you as we have heard nothing from you for a long time. Sir Rayvers is interested in how you have grown as a violinist now that the Vers Philharmonic Orchestra is planning its tour, but he has been suspecting Cruhteo of not treating you well. You are at the hospital,” Saazbaum said calmly – not too loudly in order to spare Slaine from a headache exploding in his skull.

It made sense that Sir Rayvers had sent the man; Saazbaum had been a good friend to Slaine’s father and taken well care of Slaine until Cruhteo had accepted the duty. Since Saazbaum was a pianist it had made more sense to let Slaine live with a violinist in order to keep learning and advancing, and somehow Cruhteo had become the one to take on that duty.

“How are you feeling, boy?”

Slaine closed his sleepy eyes to think about how to answer since he did not feel all right. His cheeks were swollen, his head was tender, he felt a twinge in his chest each time he took a deep breath and his left hand was somewhat cold and sweaty.

“I don’t … feel too well,” he said and frowned as he tried to remember what had happened to him.

Saazbaum took a deep breath to sigh.

“You have been unconscious for two days. I only arrived yesterday to find that Cruhteo had been abusing you badly enough to send you to the hospital and getting himself charged for child abuse,” the man explained. “Do you remember any of that?”

“I’m n-not sure,” Slaine said and opened his eyes as the news shocked him. He could not remember what had happened to him that would have sent him to the hospital. “Where’s Cruhteo?”

“Detained by the police,” the man answered. “Once you remember what happened we have a police officer waiting outside who would like to ask you some questions.” Saazbaum suddenly looked somewhat worried. “More importantly, where is your father’s violin?”

“Inaho…” Slaine whispered quietly as the name popped up into his memory. “A friend called Inaho has it. I left it with him to protect it.”

“From Cruhteo?”

Slaine nodded and got a weak flashback to what had happened to him. He remembered his fingers being broken and realized he could not move them when he tried. Slaine looked down to see his left hand being wrapped in a cast. A worry bulleted through him and he felt unexplainably empty and lost. The only talent he had was broken. The only thing which made him remember his father so vividly had been taken away from him.

“Will I be able play it again?” he asked quietly with a pathetic tone and looked at the man as sadness engulfed him which made him want to cry. “My left hand is cold…”

“The doctor said it depends on how well you let the fingers heal and how well you exercise them to keep them strong and agile, but your fingers are only misaligned and not completely broken,” Saazbaum said which calmed Slaine’s worry of never being able to make the sounds on the violin his father had taught him. “We will do everything we can to save your musical ability. I will hire a physiotherapist to rehabilitate your fingers. Do not worry about that. Just make sure to rest for now. Your fingers are not the only damaged bones you have. A rib on your right side chest has a fracture in it as well.”

The memories slowly came back to him as he listened to Saazbaum explain Slaine's injuries. It made him feel sick out of angst.

"What will happen to Cruhteo?” Slaine asked. He could not help but to feel worried about the man despite the condition he had put Slaine in. “Will he be fired from the orchestra?”

“Yes,” Saazbaum answered and looked like he had a headache the moment he was reminded about the orchestra. “Sir Rayvers cannot accept such behavior from his crew. Cruhteo was trying to ruin a talent who Sir Rayvers had wanted to enroll to the orchestra once the talent was ready.”

Slaine got heavy creases on his forehead as he knitted his eyebrows out of confusion.

“He wants to enroll me to his orchestra?” he asked surprised. “I’m not that good.”

“I am very sure you are, boy,” Saazbaum said quietly. “I remember when you played for me and Sir Rayvers when you were only twelve years old. It was the first time we met you and your father at an audition. Your father handed his Stradivarius to you without a second thought of letting a child handle it, and you played exquisitely. Back then you already were a musical phenomenon we do not see every day. Even among older children who had been playing just as long as you, you stood out in the crowd.”

Slaine felt guilty and turned his head away from the man. He was ashamed of hearing Saazbaum speak so fondly of Slaine’s ability to play the violin. It could not be that unusual for someone to play a violin at twelve years of age as well as Saazbaum described Slaine’s child self. He could not be that good that others were shadowed by him. Then he thought back to how threatened Cruhteo had felt; the man had actively tried to hinder him from advancing. Did Slaine have the ability to outshine others? Despite what Cruhteo had done he could not believe it.

‘ _I don’t deserve that much praise_ ,’ he thought and his heart squeezed in his chest.

He had always played the violin. It was like second nature for him and he had not been advancing for many years. He could not have become as good as Saazbaum, Inaho and Yuki claimed he was since he had only been standing still with his talent. It was so natural for him to play that he did not think much of it at all. For him the praise he got sounded as absurd as someone praising another for being talented at breathing.

“What will happen to me now?” he asked instead, to change the topic to something else. Slaine was worried of what would happen to him now that he would not return to Cruhteo; he had no home.

“I have been thinking,” he listened to Saazbaum say. “If you approve I would like to adopt you as my son. I am not taking away the role and parental title of your father but you need a home and a family to protect you, Slaine.”

The words baffled the blond to the point that he had to look at the man again. Saazbaum was asking him if he could legally become his adoptive father; Slaine would have a family again and also inherit the man’s name. Why would he care that much about a stupid little timid boy? Was it because Saazbaum thought of Slaine as a prodigy and wanted to own him by sharing his name with Slaine?

‘ _No, Saazbaum wouldn’t do that…_ ’ he thought.

“Why?” he asked him instead. “Why would you go to such lengths for someone like me?”

Saazbaum stared at him for a couple of seconds before he asked concerned:

“Someone like you? What do you think you are when you say something like that about yourself?” Slaine went quiet and did not know what to answer. He could not explain it why he outright despised himself. He knew his confidence was faltering each hour of the day and if the slightest negative detail showed itself around him he would blame himself for it. He did not know why. “I would go to such lengths to pay back a debt to your father.”

“My dad?” Slaine whispered confused.

The dark haired man nodded and closed his eyes to think back in time and remember the moment the debt had emerged. He rested his long finger against his chin and slightly frowned with displeasure coloring his expression.

“He saved me from a car accident many years ago in Paris after a concert. A drunken driver crashed into the car and took the life of my fiancé while I barely survived. You father was the first to be at the site and kept talking with me until the ambulance came,” the man explained. “He saved my life and I would like to repay him the debt by taking you in and give you the life he would have wanted you to have.”

Slaine could not help but to smile hearing the kindhearted and heroic gesture his father had shown to the man sitting next to Slaine at the hospital. It was just according to the character of his father which Slaine remembered clearly. It was true to the man his father had been before he had become occupied and obsessed with work; he had been the father the blond boy could be proud of.

“Will you let me go to a normal school?” Slaine asked somewhat hopefully.

Have Slaine live the normal life of a child and teenager had been his father’s dream for Slaine but it had been impossible due to the hectic working schedule his father lived by. Moving every sixth month to a year, never being home and instead traveling all over the globe to keep up with the touring schedule, and slowly but steadily not having time to go out on the picnics Slaine had enjoyed… Being famous was hard work and even if Slaine’s father had tried to be a simple father for his boy the fame had consumed him in the end.

“You want to go to a normal high school?” Saazbaum asked and raised an eyebrow. “You can get a private teacher for both schooling and violin lessons.”

“I want a normal life and my dad would have wanted me to go to a normal school to get friends,” Slaine said quietly. “Can I have that?”

Saazbaum stared at him for a while and then nodded with a sigh.

“Of course, if that is what you desire,” the man said. “Then once the papers of the adoption have been signed and approved you will move to Berlin with me and go to a fine school while you get a private violin teacher to educate you at home.”

Slaine immediately frowned at hearing the plan of moving him to Berlin. He had been living in Shinawara for two years and just recently gotten the chance to befriend someone; the boy named Inaho. Not that it was hard to say goodbye to someone he hardly knew – he had always said goodbye to newfound friends due to him and his father moving around a lot when he was a child – but it was weirdly hard to say goodbye to Inaho.

‘ _I want to stay here and go to school with him_ ,’ Slaine thought and felt troubled by the thought of moving away. He wanted to get to know Inaho’s friends as well since Slaine had thought of them as friendly and fun during the short moment he had met them – two of them had been foreigners as well, just like Slaine. He also wanted to play on the violin for Yuki again in her and Inaho’s little kitchen after they had enjoyed a dinner Inaho had prepared.

“Sir…” Slaine began quietly as he wanted to put light on his thoughts and feelings about the matter of moving so far away.

“I will legally become your father in the near future, Slaine. There is no need to call me ‘sir’,” Saazbaum interrupted him.

Slaine stared at him as he tried to wrap his mind around the fact that the man next to him would become his family. It was an embarrassing feeling since he did not know much about the pianist, and to suddenly call him a father would be difficult. He wondered if it ever would become easy.

“Saazbaum…” Slaine corrected himself and blushed slightly from the awkwardness after first thinking of calling him for a father; it had been too awkward for him to say so he called the man by his name instead. “I would like to stay here in Shinawara.” As Saazbaum frowned he hurried to add: “I know it might be too much of me to ask and I understand if it’s impossible, but I want you to know what I feel about moving away from a place which has been my home for two years.”

Saazbaum nodded understandingly as well as looked troubled.

“You have your friends and life here,” the man said and Slaine knew it was not completely true since he knew no one else but Inaho and Yuki, and even they were still strangers to him. “You are only 16 years old. I am not fond of the idea of letting you live alone,” Saazbaum then said. “Let us think about it after you are discharged from the hospital and had gotten the chance to relax for a while.”

Slaine could only nod as an answer. He was disappointed in the man for not immediately approving the idea of Slaine living alone in an apartment and attending a normal high school. However, he could not expect Saazbaum to accept it just like that when he was to become Slaine’s adoptive father and new guardian; he had the responsibility of taking care of Slaine.

“When will I be discharged?” Slaine asked quietly to change the topic of conversation once again.

“Once the doctor has done a check up on you, but it seems you got a concussion so I doubt you will be discharged tod-“

Saazbaum stopped in the middle of his sentence as the door to the room creaked slightly. Both Slaine and the man looked over to the door and saw that it was slightly open, but it was quickly pulled closed again – like someone was sneaking outside the room, eavesdropping on their conversation.

“Is it that pesky police officer again?” Saazbaum sighed and got up from the chair where he had been sitting and took long strides over to the door to open it. “Ma’am? I would appreciate if you could stop eavesdropping on us since that is not professional of a police officer to do.”

Slaine could hear a childish female voice complain from the other side of the door which he recognized:

“Oh, but come on! I heard voices and thought he had woken up. Let me see him. Pretty please?” it said.

Saazbaum spoke with an annoyed tone to his voice and made it clear to her he was bothered by her:

“Ma’am. You are being unreasonable. The boy has to rest.”

“You can let her in,” Slaine said quietly as he remembered who the female police officer was. A warm feeling spread in him as he heard her voice. “I don’t mind.”

“You hear that? He says it’s okay for me to see him,” the woman insisted. Since Slaine had given her permission to enter the room Saazbaum had no choice but to step aside and let her in. Yuki hurried over to the bed where Slaine was lying and looked at him with worried eyes. “How are you feeling? You look like a train wreck,” she blurted out and brushed the bandage around Slaine’s head with gentle fingers. Slaine had not noticed the bandage until now.

‘ _I must be more out of it than I thought_ ,’ he figured but forced a smile onto his lips.

“I’m all right,” he answered and tried to keep his voice cheerful in order to not worry her, but Yuki gave him an even more worried look and pulled her eyebrows together.

“It surprises me you can smile like that despite what you’ve been through,” she said and Slaine felt instantly guilty to make her look so concerned and almost sad. “You don’t have to pretend. It’s okay to give yourself a break and not be strong right now.”

“N-no, I feel fine,” Slaine persisted promptly but his smile disappeared and his cheerful voice became faint. It was not true. He was not fine at all, but he could not make her worry for his sake; somehow it made him feel bad and he thought of himself as a bother for her. “I’m not…” he began but felt tears gather in his eyes as he stared at her worried eyes. “… pretending… I’m fine…”

He could not hold the tears back anymore and turned his face away from her. He could not let her see him cry like a ridiculous child.

‘ _I should be stronger than this!_ ’ he thought frustrated and blushed from the embarrassment of crying in front of her and Saazbaum. He felt mortified for being so weak but he could not help the helpless feelings which tugged at his worry of never being able to play the violin again. A pathetic feeling weighed him down; the injuries made him feel weaker than he wanted to admit and hearing someone say it was all right to feel sad made him feel even weaker. The tears brought up the memories of what had happened: He heard Cruhteo’s harsh words echo in his mind and he slowly began remembering more and more of what had happened – and he trembled as an unpleasant shiver than through his spine due to the unpleasant memories.

“I think you should let him rest, officer,” he heard Saazbaum say. “The boy is still exhausted.”

A hand rested on Slaine’s shoulder while another brushed his tears away from his eyes, and Yuki’s comforting voice asked:

“Do you want me to go, Slaine?”

The question was enough to make Slaine’s heart feel less heavy; he was allowed to decide what he thought was best for him for the first time in a long while without it having negative consequences. Yuki respected him enough to hear what he wanted and that alone made Slaine feel so grateful he could not even begin to express it. He did not want her to go. He wanted her to be there because she made him feel safe with her silly attitude – and yet his heart told him he should tell her to go:

‘ _You shouldn’t need to worry about me. It’s a waste of time…_ ’

And yet…

“Stay,” he whispered selfishly. “I want you to stay if it’s all right with you.”

“Of course,” she whispered back and gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze and rubbed it carefully with her thumb. “Inaho is waiting outside as well. I thought you wanted to know.”

Slaine’s heart almost stopped at hearing that his friend was waiting outside the room. Yuki was not the only one to care about him enough to sit in the corridor and wait for him to wake up. The Japanese boy who claimed he could not express emotions was expressing how much he cared about Slaine right in that moment. The boy’s emotion was clearer than the heavenly blue sky by going through the trouble of waiting outside the hospital room for Slaine to wake up from his unconsciousness. It made the blond boy happy – so very happy.

“Can I see him?” the boy asked as he turned his head to look at her and dried his tears with his right hand.

“Slaine, you should rest and not spend too much energy on-“ Saazbaum began protesting in his calm manner but Yuki interrupted him and turned to look at him, clearly annoyed:

“Mr. Saazbaum – if you truly care about this boy you shouldn’t reduce his voice into a mere breeze. He is old enough to decide if he is well enough to see his friend or not – don’t you think?”

Slaine stared at her for a long while before throwing a glance at Saazbaum. The proud man stared at her with angered eyes and Slaine was for a moment worried that Saazbaum would confront her or throw her out of the room – but to his surprise he walked over to the door and said:

“I will head out for dinner. I will be back in about an hour or so.” He looked at Slaine. “Will you be all right until then?”

“Y-yes,” Slaine mumbled and stared at him with surprise. He had been sure the man would get angry at Yuki for scolding him so openly and bluntly. Maybe it had to do with her wearing her police uniform?

“I see you later then. Make sure not to strain yourself,” the man said and left Slaine and Yuki alone in the room.

Yuki stared at the door for a while to make sure Saazbaum would not be able to hear her before she said:

“Sheesh! He’s a handful snob. Does he always overly protect you like that?”

Slaine blushed slightly.

“I don’t know him that well to be honest. He knew my dad – that’s all,” he answered with a mumble and then looked at her with confusion. “He told me you wanted to ask me some questions about Cruhteo.”

Yuki turned to look at him and frowned.

“Yeah, I have to gather information about what happened between you two and how your relationship looked like.”

“No comment.”

Yuki raised her eyebrows and stared at him in disbelief. Slaine knew she must have been confused and not understand but he would not tell her a thing. The blond boy knew it would damage not only Cruhteo himself, but his son as well if he would be charged for all the things he had done to Slaine. The name of the Cruhteo family would be sullied. Slaine did not think he deserved that; the man had hopefully learned his lesson and would not abuse anyone again now that he had been fired from the orchestra; the man had been stripped of the title of a concertmaster – the title the man had taken so much pride in. That alone was a punishment enough to make any musician’s world crumble into nothing. Maybe the boy was too considerate but keeping Cruhteo’s situation from worsening was the only thing Slaine felt was the right thing to do.

‘ _I’m not feeling vengeful at all… I’m stronger than that._ ’

“But Slaine! He put you in the hospital!” Yuki protested. “You can’t possibly be protecting him.”

Slaine smiled faintly at her obvious concern about the situation.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t feel like punishing him by speaking about my time with him to the authorities,” the blond countered bravely.

“Has he brainwashed you? Slaine, he damaged your fingers and gave you a concussion as well as a broken rib. Inaho told me what you had told him and even if I trust his word I can’t use that as evidence. Tell me the truth, Slaine,” she begged but the blond shook his head carefully.

“Has Cruhteo said anything?” he wanted to know.

“He confessed to have beaten you and broken your fingers,” Yuki said with a tired sigh. “I know there is more to it from other times; I saw the old bruises on your cheek and fingers three days ago when you came to visit.”

Slaine frowned. He knew he could tell her everything and make Cruhteo pay for what he had done, but he had to be honest with himself: Being vengeful was not productive to Slaine at all. The man probably knew he had done bad things and he was probably aware of the power Slaine had in this situation: Child abuse was a serious crime and Slaine could make the man’s punishment harsher if he wished to. Since the man had already confessed to some of his crimes he would get a sentence that Slaine thought would be punishment enough. He would not abuse the power he had out of vengefulness.

“You already know what you need to know,” the boy said and smiled saddened. “I don’t care about having him charged for everything he has done to me. He already regrets how bad he has been toward me – I’m sure of it. I want to be forgiving,” he explained.

Yuki sighed heavier and brushed her fingers through her hair out of frustration. She closed her eyes to calm down and then nodded.

“You’re stronger than I thought and naïve was well, but I can’t force you to speak,” she said and nodded again in a way that looked like she tried to confirm her decision to give up about asking the boy for information for now.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Nah, don’t be,” she said and smiled with a displeased expression. “Nao called me on his way to school that you had gone home and would get your fingers broken by your guardian. It took a while for me to convince my boss to send a car to Cruhteo’s mansion and once we got there it was already too late. I even thought you were dead at first glance. I should be the one to say sorry for not being there in time to stop him.”

Slaine could not believe what he heard and he wanted to shake his head violently and tell her it was all right; she had no reason to apologize. It was not her fault. His head hurt though and moving it felt too straining.

“H-how did you find out I was living with Cruhteo?” Slaine asked quietly and Yuki told him Inaho had revealed Slaine’s surname to her and she had then traced his name to Cruhteo’s address. She continued explaining that once they had gotten to the mansion they had found Slaine lying on the couch in the lounge. Cruhteo had picked him up from the floor to let Slaine rest on something soft and as the police had entered his mansion Cruhteo had been busy calling for an ambulance and did no resistance as he was detained.

“He did seem regretful,” Yuki mumbled angrily and had a totally unprofessional air to her. “But that bastard deserves to be thrown into the flames of hell and burn there. Child abuse is totally inexcusable!”

It was a shock to hear that the cold and cruel Cruhteo had done something as respectful as picking Slaine up from the floor and place him on the couch. As far as Slaine had learned the man had always looked at Slaine as a filthy dog that would soil the carpets and furniture just by touching them. What had made the man do something like that? Slaine wondered if he would ever learn his reasons to suddenly show even a tiny bit of care toward the boy he so much hated.

Slaine had pondered on the man’s reason for a while but could not find any cause to the sudden change, and before he had come to any kind of conclusion Yuki had called for Inaho to enter the room and left the boys alone.

“Um…” Slaine mumbled and stared at Inaho who had been standing next to the bed staring at him without even blinking for about an entire minute. “Hi?”

“Hi,” Inaho answered and sat down on the chair where Saazbaum and Yuki had been sitting.

The brown haired boy stared out the window behind Slaine’s bed without saying a word or even looking at the blond. Slaine looked out the window as well to see what Inaho was staring at but all he could see was the clear blue summer sky and skyscrapers. He did not know what Inaho saw out there and he felt too awkward to ask, and so he stared up at the hospital ceiling instead and listened to the birds chirping outside from probably a nearby tree.

A short amount of time passed – which for Slaine felt like hours – and finally the younger boy asked:

“I brought the violin. Do you want it?”

Slaine turned his eyes to look at him in silence for a couple of seconds and then he smiled gently.

“Yes, please.”

Inaho rose up from the chair to head out through the door. While the brunet was getting the violin Slaine frowned deeply and tried to move his fingers in the cast covering his hand, but they were completely immobile. They did not hurt as much as he expected them to and he wondered if he was under some kind of anesthesia.

Inaho came back into the room holding the violin case in his hand and Slaine quickly released the saddened expression on his face to look at the case that was carried closer by the other boy. A bittersweet feeling - that was all Slaine felt as the case was finally placed next to him on the hospital bed.

“Thank you,” Slaine said quietly and smiled again.

Inaho sat back down onto the chair and stared at Slaine once again. The boy seemed to try and figure something out by staring at the blond.

“What?” Slaine asked and blushed slightly from Inaho’s intense stare.

“The first time I offered you an ice cream you stared at me and blushed more than you do now. Why was that?” the brunet asked and Slaine was hit by a pang of confusion as he tried to remember back to the first day they had met on the street.

“Ice cream?” Slaine echoed and then realized what Inaho was talking about. He blushed even more and felt his throat go dry from embarrassment.

“Now you blush like that again,” Inaho noted and Slaine turned his face away from him.

“S-so what about it?” the blond stammered and thought his face would burn up any moment from awkwardness.

“I wondered why you blushed like that back then,” he heard the brunet repeat.

“W-well, you were being unclear of what you meant back then!”

“Meant with what?”

“You…” Slaine took a deep breath as he realized his confidence was about to falter again due to humiliation from his own clumsiness back then. “Y-you said I looked hot.”

“But you did. You had been out in the sun all day.”

“You were unclear about what you meant! Besides, why do you even care w-why I blushed back then?” Slaine’s mind spun. Why had Inaho decided to ask him about it now of all times?

“Because it was interesting,” he heard Inaho explain. “How was I unclear? I stated a fact.”

How could Slaine be able to tell Inaho he had thought Inaho had tried to come onto him back then? Slaine had completely failed to notice the ice cream in the other boy’s hand as he had been startled by him walking up to Slaine so suddenly. He had come out of nowhere while Slaine had been busy tuning the violin. The blond had at first wondered what the stranger would say or do. Slaine had interpreted Inaho’s honest observation as a distasteful compliment but then realized he had been completely wrong about it as he had seen the ice cream in the other boy’s hand. The worst part – according to Slaine – was that Inaho was completely oblivious about how his comment could have been misinterpreted and now he asked Slaine to explain it to him.

‘ _I will sound like a narcissistic idiot!_ ’

“I… I thought you … gave me a compliment…” Slaine mumbled and refused to look at the brown haired boy. “Everyone else gave me compliments during that day so…”

He felt Inaho’s stare rest on him and the room went silent once again. It was excruciating.

‘ _Please, say something!_ ’ Slaine prayed. He had nowhere to hide from Inaho and the brunet was so awkward Slaine did not know what to do or say. It felt like it was he who made Inaho feel awkward by being awkward about their conversation.

“Do you want to take it as a compliment?” The silence was finally broken by the monotone voice from next to the bed. “Do you want me to call you hot?”

Slaine wanted to hurry out of the bed and run out through the door at the embarrassment that threatened to vaporize him. Why was Inaho so weird? Slaine’s chest felt hot and his mind swam in confusion.

“H-how did you come to that conclusion!? Do you even know what that implies!?” Slaine exclaimed with a high pitched voice. His broken rib made itself reminded and he frowned from the sharp pain. It was probably better to keep his voice down.

“I asked Inko why people blush and she said people blush because they feel flattered, and that people like being flattered. That means you were flattered when I said you were hot.”

‘ _Well, she wasn’t completely wrong…_ ’ Slaine thought.

“So you want to f-flatter me by calling me hot? Why would you even call me that? Shouldn’t you say that to a girl you like?” he asked instead but got an answer he was not prepared for:

“But I don’t like a girl. I like you.”

‘ _Wait a minute… Wait. A. Minute!_ ’

“W-w-wait! Wait! What are you s-saying that for!?” Slaine asked and instinctively pulled the blanket up over to his chin while he turned his head to stare at Inaho with a shocked expression. “I’m a guy! You can’t like me!”

“Why?” the brunet asked promptly. Slaine could swear he saw a hint of confusion show itself in Inaho’s eyes.

“B-because it’s not n-normal!”

“How so?”

Slaine went quiet as he was at a loss for words. He did not know why he thought it was abnormal for a male to like a male. Because society said so? Because Slaine himself believed so? ‘ _No, that’s not it…_ ’ he thought and took a deep breath as he pondered. The boy also wondered if he and Inaho were on the same page since the conversation was unsmooth in every aspect.

Slaine swallowed hard and asked:

“What do you exactly mean with ‘like’?”

Inaho blinked and finally looked down to absentmindedly rest his gaze on the floor. He raised his hand to caress his chin while he thought before he said mumbling:

“I don’t know. I just like you. You’re interesting.”

“Um… Do you have to call me h-hot just because you think I’m interesting?” the blond wondered out loud. He was so confused he did not know what to think anymore.

“Yes,” Inaho said immediately.

Slaine felt like a steam engine that would release a heavy cloud of steam through his ears any second as his cheeks burned.

“Why?”

“Because I want to flatter you.”

They were going in circles with the conversation. Slaine had no idea what Inaho was getting at and Inaho did not seem to understand what was happening. He did clearly not feel awkward or embarrassed by saying the things he said. Instead of arguing about it Slaine decided to give up; he was too tired to deal with the confusion right now.

“Fine, I guess it won’t hurt,” he sighed and pouted childishly. “I don’t know why you want to flatter me and make me feel embarrassed but since it’s you I guess I can deal with it.”

“Does that mean I can say it?” Inaho asked and Slaine nodded stiffly, not understanding why Inaho was so persistent about it. “You look hot.”

Slaine could not help but to let a quiet chuckle of confusion spill out from between his lips as he kept blushing. He raised his right hand to his forehead and rested it on top of the bandage. He felt feverish.

“T-thank you,” he chuckled. He sighed carefully not to make his fractured rib hurt and threw a glance at Inaho. The brunet was faintly smiling for the first time since Slaine had met him.

♪♫♪♫

He liked to hear him chuckle. He liked to see him smile. He wanted to make the blond boy blush. Inaho did not know why but he enjoyed seeing Slaine like that but he enjoyed knowing he was the reason Slaine blushed. The sight of the blond made it feel warm inside his stomach and even if he knew he had probably confused the western boy with his reasoning of why he wanted to call him hot, he still felt satisfied since he got to see that characteristic smile on Slaine’s lips. The other boy had been pale and had had an empty look in his eyes and Inaho thought it did not suit him at all. He wanted to bring the color back to the boy’s face in his own clumsy little way by making him blush in the only way Inaho knew would work for certain – and it had gone just like planned.

“You need something to eat,” Inaho thought out loud.

“I-I’m not very hungry,” Slaine mumbled while he was still smiling.

“You don’t have to be very hungry. A little is enough,” Inaho answered. “What do you want to eat?”

He watched Slaine think for a while as the blond tried to decide on what he wanted to eat. Slaine looked weak. Since he had been in hospital for two days and had not gotten anything to eat due to him being unconscious he needed some other kind of nutrition than from the IV therapy stuck to Slaine’s arm.

“Fruits?” Slaine suggested and Inaho nodded and got up from the chair and left the room without replying with – according to Inaho – unnecessary words.

He met Yuki in the hall who hurried inside the room to keep Slaine company while Inaho went to the cafeteria to buy some fruit for Slaine. He stopped in front of the basket with oranges and figured he would get a couple of them. He and Yuki needed to eat something as well so he bought two oranges for each person and returned to the room.

“Nao!” Yuki said with a high pitched voice from desperation the moment Inaho opened the door. Every time she spoke with that kind of voice she was childishly upset about something. “Slaine will maybe move to Berlin!”

Inaho stopped at the door to stare at her and then at Slaine who had an apologetic smile on his lips. Suddenly he felt unhappy.

“Why?” he asked with his characteristically monotone voice and then walked over to the foot end of the bed and sat down on it. He began peeling the oranges with a plastic knife he had brought with him from the cafeteria.

“It’s not set in stone but Saazbaum doesn’t want me to live alone in Japan,” Slaine answered and Inaho noticed him throw glances at his direction. “I want to stay and I have told him that, but he hasn’t given me an answer yet.”

“Yuki can take care of you,” Inaho said immediately and looked up at his sister who stared at Inaho with a baffled stare. “Don’t you like him?” he asked her and she blinked the confoundedness from her eyes.

“Of course I do but our apartment is too small and I don’t have a proper job. I’m just a fill-in police officer when someone gets ill or something,” she said and Inaho saw that she knew something about him which he did not appreciate her knowing.

Every time Inaho wanted something he would argue about it by finding every reason and excuse he could. He was not the one to back down from something he thought was important and right now he found the relationship with Slaine profoundly significant – and Yuki had noticed that.

“I-I can’t! I told you I can’t,” Slaine said and stared at the brunet. “I don’t want to be a burden.”

Inaho saw a flash in Yuki’s eyes and she sighed annoyed.

“Listen, kid. You’re not a burden,” she muttered. “Stop thinking about yourself like garbage, since you’re not.”

“Then get an apartment and have Yuki come and check up on you at times,” Inaho suggested. Again his sister threw a baffled glance at him. “That won’t be a problem, will it?” Inaho asked her by looking at her directly and pulled the orange apart to offer a piece to Slaine, who accepted it with a slight blush. “Maybe you can get paid to do it?” the brunet continued selfishly.

Yuki ruffled her hair and groaned before she let out a loud huff and straightened her back.

“I will talk to Mr. Saazbaum about that. Would you like that?” she then asked and looked at Slaine, whose eyes had a delightful shine in them even though he clearly was troubled by the idea.

“Will it not make your day stressful?” Slaine asked her quietly.

“Nah! I can check up on you during the days I have no work. Sometimes I can go without work for days,” she explained and smiled. “Inaho really wants you to stay, so I guess I should try and make my brother happy if you want to stay in Shinawara, Slaine.”

Inaho felt satisfied. If Saazbaum would refuse Inaho had to figure out a plan B. Maybe he could send in an application to the Shinawara High School in Slaine’s name as a means to push Saazbaum into accepting the proposal?

‘ _Even if that would be illegal..._ ’ he thought but dismissed the consequences that popped up into his mind. One thing was certain: He would not allow anyone separate him from the other boy.


	7. Crescendo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inaho waits impatiently for his sister; they are meeting up with Inaho's friends to go to a very important event.  
> Slaine waits nervously for time to pass; he is about to take a step into a completely new world for him.

“We’ll be late,” he said as he listened to his sister stumbling around in her bedroom while she was trying to find her purse which she never used, except for special occasions like tonight. Inaho stood in the hallway, dressed in a classic black tuxedo and carefully held a bouquet of a large variety of colorful flowers in his arms; it had cost a fortune.

“I’m on my way!” she yelled and after a while she hurried out of her bedroom right after a crash had reached Inaho’s ears from inside the room. She wore a navy blue evening dress and had put her hair up in a neat bun at the back of her head. Her heels sounded sharp against the floor as she stepped around while rummaging in her purse in a half panicked state. “Nao, do you have the tickets?” she asked while breathing with a ragged breath.

“Yes,” Inaho answered and pulled up the bundle of tickets from inside his tuxedo pocket. He knew she would lose them one way or another due to her clumsy nature, and so he had decided to hold onto them to make sure they would not disappear.

“Oh, great!” Yuki sighed with relief and then grabbed the keys from the little table in the hall. “Careful with the flowers.”

Together they hurried out through the door and to the parking lot where Nina, Inko and Calm waited for them. The air was cold and their breaths turned into gentle mists. Winter was just around the corner and the entire crowd wore warm jackets to protect them from the cold. Their cheeks had already turned red.

Nina and Inko were dressed in evening gowns while Calm stood proudly dressed in a dark grey tuxedo which looked almost identical to Inaho’s was it not for the color. Nina wore a dark purple dress with a matching purse while Inko wore a timeless black dress with a golden purse.

“Oh Nina! That sweet-heart neckline looks really good on you,” Yuki said as they walked over to the trio waiting for them next to Yuki’s car. “Also, I like your bateau, Inko!”

Both girls blushed happily and thanked her, and as expected they complimented Yuki’s dress as well – which Inaho heard had a v-neck with an open back.

“Are you as confused as I am about those necks and stuff?” Calm whispered and leaned closer to Inaho.

“What about them?” Inaho asked and Calm sighed.

“Oh, I keep forgetting you’re only interested in caring about thermos-whatever,” he mumbled slightly disappointed.

“Thermodynamics,” Inaho corrected him but the boy only nodded with a defeated expression on his face and corrected the bow-tie around his neck.

“Who thought we would be going to school this late in the evening?” the European boy instead sighed with a smile.

“Let’s get going, shall we?” Yuki asked and all five of them got into the car and hurried to the Shinawara High School.

As they arrived all of them were shocked to see the street occupied with reporters from both TV-stations and newspapers. A red carpet had been placed on the ground leading up to the entrance into the assembly hall of the school which was only big enough to house 2 000 people. Visitors – who seemed to be famous people – were being interviewed on the carpet and there were a lot of lights flashing across the area. The sound level was high from all the reporters trying to get the attention of the people they wanted to talk to, and crowds of people were walking across the streets without much attention. While Inaho did not pay it any mind and was occupied with handing out the tickets to the others, Yuki cursed as she tried to get through to the parking lot not far away from the hall.

“That’s illegal, you piece of shit!” she growled as she saw a news van block the road.

“I didn’t think there would be this much people!” Inko said astounded while she looked out through the car window.

“Me neither. They must have made some heavy advertising and promotion for this,” Yuki sighed and turned onto a smaller road to take a detour to the parking lot.

“They didn’t,” Inaho said as he threw a glance at the clock on the car’s instrument panel which showed 07:30 PM. They had 30 minutes left. “They wanted to keep it toned down.”

“Well, they did a bad job at it!” Yuki hissed and finally managed to get through to park the car. “It feels like the entire Tokyo has arrived here!”

Nina skipped out of the car with sparkling eyes and looked like she was in a hurry. She gazed at the red carpet with longing and excited smile.

“I can’t believe they have a red carpet!” she giggled happily and made a twirl. The skirt of her dress fluttered in the air with her movement and fell elegantly back to cover her thighs again. “And there are people taking pictures!”

“Calm down, princess,” Calm grumbled the moment he got out of the back seat. “Why are you so excited about that?”

Nina pouted and raised her nose in the air before she folded her arms with displeasure. Her breath playfully turned into mist.

“Like you’re not excited,” she muttered. “Maybe our picture will get into the news. Don’t tell me you’re not excited about that.”

Calm went pale the moment he heard her say that. Inaho knew the boy was actually pretty shy when it came to attention on a huge scale; Calm’s confidence was good but when he got nervous his confidence would plummet instantly.

Inaho, Inko and Yuki exited the car as well and Inaho took great care of the flowers to not bump them into anything, and the car doors were slammed shut.

“Come now, let’s head to the assembly hall before we get there too late,” Yuki prompted after she had locked the car, and together they walked down the street toward the old school building and snaked through the crowd.

♪♫♪♫

“I cannot believe you wanted to have your debut in a place like this,” Saazbaum said and kept an eye on the audience through a small gap in the curtains hiding the backstage where he stood.

“I’m sorry,” Slaine smiled as he waited for the concert to start. He held his violin in a tight grip and felt nervous. “I have never stood on a stage before so I wanted to begin with a small stage,” he explained and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He felt somewhat nauseous, especially when he heard the hall get louder and louder from the constant inflow of people. “Besides, this is my school so I wanted to start here.”

“This is not even a music school,” his adoptive father mumbled somewhat dissatisfied.

“Do you see those you invited?” Slaine asked nervously.

The moment the concert had gotten a date Saazbaum had instantly called to invite some well-known musicians from the classical stage to have a look at Troyard’s son preform for the first time. Slaine had gotten nervous the moment he heard the names who would come. Sir Rayregalia Vers Ravers himself would be in the audience to assess Slaine’s ability as a violinist, and together he had brought with him some of the other musicians from Vers Philharmonic Orchestra. Saazbaum had also invited the secretary general of the United Filharmonics of Europe, an organization where 28 orchestras in Europe came together to support music schools with supplies and teachers – sometimes the orchestra members themselves traveled to the schools they supported, to teach.

Slaine had decided to stop listening to all the names and titles his adoptive father had fed him; Slaine felt all too nervous about having such big names in the classical music scene to watch him perform and so it had been easier to pretend he did not hear their names. The boy knew those who had come to watch him perform came only to honor his father, and so Slaine felt even more nervous.

‘ _What If they think I’m not even close to my father?_ ’ he thought nervously and tried to occupy his mind with checking the tuning of the violin with an electrical tuner. He would lose every ounce of confidence if that was the case. Slaine wanted to badly to be able to play like his father simply to prove that his father was still alive through Slaine’s performance.

“How are your fingers?” he suddenly heard his adoptive father then ask, and Slaine looked up just in time to see Saazbaum turn around to look at Slaine’s slender fingers on his left hand.

Slaine clenched his hand into a fist a couple of times and moved his fingers to keep them warmed up. His fingers had healed well due to the physiotherapist who Saazbaum had hired to help Slaine rehabilitate his misaligned fingers. The blond could play the violin without any kind of dysfunction if he warmed up his fingers with exercises, but he had been battling with how to play on the violin since his damaged fingers had felt different after they had healed properly. Slaine had been filled with relief when he had noticed his ability had come back again. Even if he had to do exercises and practice more to find the techniques again with his healed fingers, he was still happy to be able to play again.

“My ring finger is slightly stiff but I think I can manage,” the boy said quietly. “I did the exercises I was told to do.”

“And Schreiber?” Saazbaum asked and Slaine brushed the violin with a loving motion.

“It is happy after the repairs,” Slaine answered and looked up at his adoptive father. “Thank you for everything.”

“Slaine!” a pretty voice chirped and the two members to the Saazbaum family turned to look at the golden blond girl who hurried up to them after her makeup had been done. “I’m so excited! Are you?” she asked and Slaine smiled at her with a gentle smile.

“I am. Thank you for accompanying me onto the stage, Asseylum,” Slaine said and gave her a polite bow.

“I am happy you asked me to. Thank you, Slaine,” she answered with her pretty voice. She playfully hid her hands behind her back with a feminine manner and had a rosy blush on her cheeks.

The moment Asseylum had heard the news that her friend and Troyard’s son would have his debut as a violinist she had asked her grandfather to be allowed to travel together with her grandfather to support the boy by sitting in the audience and watch him play. Slaine had immediately asked her to join him on stage by playing piano as he had heard she would be coming to see him perform for the first time with the spotlights directed at him. She had accepted his request without a second thought.

Saazbaum on the other hand disliked Slaine’s idea of having his debut at his high school. The man had tried to persuade Slaine into performing at a proper concert hall but the boy had refused. He wanted to start where he felt safe and at home, a place which his father would have approved; at Shinawara High School where he had begun studying the moment summer vacation had come to an end. Slaine had never gotten the chance to have a normal life as an ordinary high school teenager and choosing the assembly hall at his school had been a natural choice to make it feel like a school concert. Starting small was his plan and he would slowly build himself up from there. In April Inaho and the others would begin at the school as well once they had graduated from Shinawara Junior High – something the blond looked forward to.

Slaine had gotten an apartment in a fine district of Shinawara after Saazbaum had finally agreed to let the boy live alone in Japan. Yuki had gotten the responsibility to twice per week visit him and help him with financial tasks as well as teach him how to cook, wash clothes and clean the house. Slaine had been hopeless in the beginning but after two months he had slowly gotten less dependent on her and dared to venture out on the unknown field of adulthood. However, the main visitor at Slaine’s home was the Japanese boy who came to visit him many times per week. Slaine dared to say that Inaho had practically moved in with him due to the amount of time the brunet spent at Slaine’s place. Some weekdays Inaho would spend the night and the next day they would accompany each other on their way to school before they had to go separate ways. It had become a common occurrence.

On weekends the boys would spend time at Inaho’s and Yuki’s apartment where they enjoyed the evenings together with Inaho’s sister or spend time with Inaho’s friends – who in turn had become Slaine’s friends as well. Yuki and the others always tried to challenge Slaine’s violin skills by playing songs to him and make him play them by ear, but no matter how complicated songs they found Slaine was quick to find the tune and replay them on the violin.

Slaine could not even begin to describe how he enjoyed his newfound life. He had a guardian who cared for him and he had finally gotten himself friends, and a family; he could not help but to view the Kaizuka siblings as family members since the air around them was so inviting, warm and nice that they were more than just friends to Slaine.

“Make yourselves ready,” Saazbaum said as it was time.

Slaine took another deep breath and relaxed his body slightly to relieve it of tension before he straightened his back.

“Remember your posture now,” Saazbaum reminded him. “Back straight and your feet shoulder width apart. Relax your knees and hold the violin parallel to the floor. And for God’s sake do not forget to hold the level of your bow and arm constant when you play on the strings. You always forget that,” he then scolded and Slaine blushed while Asseylum giggled.

“Yes, father,” Slaine mumbled, embarrassed from the man scolding him in front of Asseylum.

“Are you ready, Slaine?” the girl asked with an angelic smile.

“Y-yes,” the boy answered nervously.

Asseylum took a hold of his hand as she stood next to him facing the stage and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. A crew member walked up to them to give Slaine a microphone.

“I thought of doing something spontaneous,” she said pondering while her eyes brightened with an excited smile. “Let us play the _Aldnoah Sonata_ ,” she suggested and Slaine looked up at her to stare at her with a slight shock flashing through his mind. “You know how to play it, right? Make your dad’s violin sing on the stage once again to the sonata he wrote.”

Slaine’s vision blurred slightly as tears threatened to fall but he held them back bravely. The only one who knew how to play Troyard’s _Aldnoah Sonata in D Major_ to the end was Slaine since he had been listening to his father writing and practicing it for hours and hours as a child. He gave her a nod as the lights dimmed in the assembly hall and the noise from the crowd slowly quieted down. He heard Saazbaum protest against Asseylum’s idea by arguing it would break the schedule of the concert, but Slaine decided to ignore him and stepped out onto the stage. This was his debut. This was him honoring the memory of his late father.

♪♫♪♫

“There he is!” Nina squealed quietly and pointed at Slaine who stepped out onto the stage.

The audience began applauding while photographers sent a sea of flashes through the small hall to catch the boy in their viewfinder. The stage was small but had been decorated with heavy black curtains and the wooden floor had been covered with black floor plates to make it look like a proper but simple and clean stage. Spotlights shone down on the blond boy dressed in a classic tailcoat tuxedo. He gave the applauding audience a stiff bow where he stood alone on the center of the stage with a black Pegasus grand piano of the brand Schimmel, behind him.

“Oh, he must be so nervous,” Yuki said loud enough to make her voice heard through the applause resounding in the hall. She had a broad smile on her lips.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Slaine said into the microphone. Inaho noticed his voice trembled. “Thank you for coming here tonight to Shinawara High School for my debut concert which is dedicated to my late father and the great violinist Troyard. With me this evening, I have the talented young lady and a dear friend to me; Asseylum Vers Allusia.”

A golden blond girl with beautiful locks walked out onto the stage, dressed in a simple but elegant white dress. She gave the applauding audience a well-practiced curtsy and while everyone around him awed at her beauty Inaho felt an uncomfortable feeling swell up in his chest at the sight of her. He did not dislike her as a person from the one time he had met her a couple of days ago while visiting Slaine, but he did not like seeing Slaine together with her. It was a new feeling he had never felt before.

“My name is Slaine Troyard. I hope you enjoy the evening,” Slaine finished and a crew member walked out from behind the curtains to take the microphone while Asseylum walked over to the grand piano and sat down onto the bench. After a short while the first stroke on the violin strings filled the assembly hall and the piano followed the violin’s lead. The two very different sounds of the instruments merged into an overwhelmingly harmonious melody and without warning Inaho felt a hot ache burn in his chest.

♪♫♪♫

“Oh my goodness!” Yuki squeaked and made an attempt to throw her arms around Slaine right after arriving backstage to greet the blond boy, but Inaho was quick to grab the skirt of her dress to stop her midway. “Hey! Nao! Lemme congratulate him!”

Before Inaho and the others had been allowed behind the stage some men and women – who clearly were famous musicians – had talked to Slaine first. Inaho had heard something about an orchestra, and he had quickly come to the conclusion that these people were important ones for Slaine’s future.

“I suggest you let him breathe before you smother him with your hug,” Inaho said expressionlessly - but in reality he was somewhat annoyed since Yuki had no insight whatsoever to how smothering she could be. “He just came off the stage,” he then reminded her and Yuki scowled and stepped back to let Slaine breathe.

Slaine chuckled and patted his face with a small towel. The blond boy was sweaty and his pale cheeks were rosy from a blush caused by the heat. It must have been hot on the stage due to the spotlights and the suit, as well as the 60 minutes long concert.

The moment Slaine had announced that he would be playing his father’s sonata as a last number many people in the audience had murmured to each other, while others - like a woman in the seat in front of Inaho - held their breaths. Inaho figured everyone in the audience had been listening to the short recording of the _Aldnoah Sonata_ that existed, before coming to listen to the son of the famous violinist who had created it.

It had been difficult for Slaine to start playing the sonata; the boy had hesitated for an entire minute by just staring at the violin which had not been playing the sonata ever since his father had collapsed. After the minute had passed the blond boy took a deep breath and began to play with his lips pressed together from nervousness and dread.

After Slaine had relaxed somewhat while playing, the melody had become much more joyful and serene. The flow of the sonata had engulfed the entire assembly hall into a calm and pleasant atmosphere – wrapping itself around each person listening to the boy play. Inaho had not been able to take his eyes off of Slaine during that entire time; he had been completely captivated by the elegance of his posture and the grace of the melody he created.

Once Slaine had gotten to the part of the sonata where his father had collapsed, he had stopped. He had been standing completely still with the bow still resting on the strings and stared at the violin. He had stared at his fingers on the strings for a couple of seconds before taking a visibly deep breath. The bow had begun to move and created the vibrations the world had never heard before. As Slaine had found his courage once again and passed the obstacle made by trauma, he continued the melody with strength, confidence and determination. At that the assembly hall had exploded in applause and when the sonata had been finished everyone in the audience had stood up to give the boy a standing ovation.

Finally the world had gotten to hear Troyard’s sonata to the end.

“You looked so handsome on the stage!” Nina exclaimed and stared at Slaine with gleaming eyes.

“T-thank you,” Slaine blushed and gave her a slight bow.

“You look like a bat with that suit,” Calm laughed out loud and Nina gave the back of his head a slap.

Slaine chuckled and looked at the coat-tails of his tuxedo before he stiffly rocked sideways with his hands glued to his sides, and said:

“Mostly people say this suit makes a person look like a penguin.”

The small crowd around him laughed and Inaho handed him the bouquet of flowers. Slaine stopped rocking and turned his blue eyes to the brunet and then to the bouquet.

“Congratulations to your debut concert, Bat,” Inaho said in his usual manner and was slightly taken off guard as Slaine flashed the happiest smile he had seen in a long time on the boy’s lips.

“Thank you,” he said humbly and accepted the bouquet to hold it preciously. “Thank you all for coming. It means a lot to me.”

“Of course,” Inko smiled with her lips curving into a somewhat proud smile. “We wouldn’t even think the thought of missing it.”

“Slaine? Are these your friends?” a clear and sweet voice said from somewhere behind Slaine and everyone turned to look at the girl with golden locks falling beautifully over her shoulders.

“Oh! Y-yes,” Slaine said blushing, and stepped to the side to let the girl into the circle.

Slaine introduced the girl named Asseylum to everyone and she gave each one a graceful curtsy. Inaho glared at her with an unpleasant feeling crawling around in his chest. It felt hot. Suffocating. He was sure it did not show on his facial expression – like always due to his emotionless face. For some reason he did not want her near Slaine since – according to his emotions – the girl was poisonous and not someone Slaine should spend time with. He knew it was completely illogical since he did not even know the girl but he simply could not ignore how happy Slaine seemed to be when she was around.

‘ _He’s mine..._ ’ he thought as he watched the girl speak without Inaho hearing a word of what she said.

“... or what do you think, Nao?” he suddenly heard his sister say and Inaho noticed everyone was looking at his direction.

“About what?” Inaho shamelessly asked and released the blond girl with his eyes to look at Yuki.

Yuki frowned. She had noticed Inaho’s awkwardness.

“About them playing together. It _surely_ was harmonious and pleasant how they managed to sync that well, _right_ Nao?” she asked and made Inaho know she wanted him to answer politely.

Inaho simply wanted to childishly answer “no” due to the burning feelings in his chest, even if he had enjoyed the sound to the fullest, but he swallowed the angry feelings deep down into his heart and nodded.

“Yes. It was good,” he answered frankly.

Asseylum smiled with her cheeks getting a darker rosy hue from the praise and thanked them all humbly before she excused herself and went to speak to an older man next to Saazbaum who seemed to be her relative. Saazbaum was busy instructing the security guards on how to deal with the reporters who apparently had begun to flock outside the exit.

“So, will you get home okay?” Yuki asked and Slaine nodded.

“Yes. My father will take me home after we are done here,” Slaine explained smiling, hesitating just slightly to speak about Saazbaum as his father.

“You should come with us,” Inaho insisted and Yuki sighed.

“We are five people in the car; we don’t have any room,” she reminded him but Inaho would not have that. He wanted to spend time with Slaine after his first concert.

“He can sit in my lap,” the brunet continued.

Slaine blushed completely crimson, Calm burst out laughing, Nina giggled and Inko rolled her eyes. And Yuki…

“Don’t be ridiculous, Nao! You know that’s not allowed,” she scolded him and Inaho looked at Slaine who was squeezing his lips tightly together from embarrassment.

“Can I come with you then?” he asked bluntly.

Inaho really wanted to stay with Slaine and even if he understood he was being selfish about it he simply did not care.

“Um…” Slaine looked over to Saazbaum before he sighed. “I don’t mind. I just have to ask my father if that’s all right.”

Inaho nodded and persistently followed Slaine when the blond walked over to his adoptive father and friend who Inaho did not like at all for selfish reasons. Slaine threw an awkward glance at him as he noticed Inaho following him but did not say a word about it.

‘ _I won’t let you be alone with her..._ ’ Inaho thought and threw an inexpressive glare at Asseylum who looked their way as they approached.

“Father,” Slaine said nervously and Saazbaum turned his attention to his adoptive son together with the older man and Asseylum. “C-could Inaho have a ride with us back to my place?”

Saazbaum looked at Inaho with a raised eyebrow and then back at Slaine again.

“A sleepover?” the man asked and before Slaine had time to answer Inaho took the word:

“Yes,” he answered bluntly and would not release the man with his determined eyes.

Slaine frowned and threw a quick glance at Inaho as the blond was nervous of how rude Inaho had been, but Inaho did not care. The matter of him staying at Slaine’s place was suddenly urgent.

“Um… I know you will leave for Berlin first thing tomorrow morning along with Asseylum and Sir Ravers, and I would like to have someone with me now after the concert,” Slaine tried to explain.

Saazbaum’s expression softened and he raised a hand to reassuringly pat Slaine’s shoulder.

“Of course. Since I cannot be there I think it is better for you to have a friend over at your place. Your father would have approved,” he said and Inaho’s heart thumped the moment he saw the sparkling smile on Slaine’s face.

“Thank you, father,” the blond said joyfully and gave the man a quick bow.

“Are you ready to leave then?” the adoptive father asked and both Inaho and Slaine hurried over to the others to say their goodbyes for the day.

Saazbaum warned them about a flock of reporters waiting outside and thus they should get out through the back door, and Inaho followed Slaine and Saazbaum to the back of the building where a limousine was waiting for them right outside the door. They hurried inside it and it was more luxurious than Inaho had expected; there was a minibar, a tray with finger food, champagne glasses and a bottle of champagne and red wine. Saazbaum looked right at home in the luxurious vehicle and Inaho observed Slaine where he sat next to him hugging the violin case. The blond took up as little space as he could and could not relax on the seat.

‘ _He doesn’t like limousines?_ ’ Inaho thought and the car moved out from behind the building.

They came to an immediate stop at the school ground gates. Reporters were taking pictures and trying to persuade the trio of musicians to answer some of their questions. The driver seemed experienced with such a crowd and slowly began rolling through it; people moved out of the way when they realized the driver would not stop for them. Slaine went completely pale at seeing the commotion outside and looked like he wanted to hide. He hugged the violin case tighter while he looked at the crowd outside the vehicle with a spooked expression.

Inaho reached out a hand to take a hold of Slaine’s which was holding the violin case hard enough his fingers were pale. He met the blond’s gaze and gave the boy a small smile. Slaine relaxed somewhat after realizing Inaho tried to comfort him and smiled gratefully and the blond squeezed Inaho’s hand gently.

The limousine finally arrived to the tall apartment complex where Slaine had his apartment. It was on the 21st floor almost at the top of the building. Slaine exchanged some words with his adoptive father and they said their goodbyes. Slaine made sure to properly thank his father once again for helping him with his first concert.

‘ _He’s always so humble toward others_ ,’ Inaho thought as he stood next to Slaine and waited for the limousine to drive off.

Saazbaum lowered the window right after he had closed the car door.

“Take care of yourself now, Slaine. I will see you in just about a month or so,” the man said and Slaine nodded.

“I will, and you do that as well, father. I will see you soon again,” the blond boy replied, and to Inaho’s relief the vehicle finally drove off; the brunet had become impatient of waiting to be alone with Slaine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think the Aldnoah Sonata In D Major sounds like? (O.O)


	8. Sul Tasto

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Super mega cotton candy fluff!
> 
> Song that inspired this chapter:  
> ["Truly Madly Deeply" - by Savage Garden (calikokat110 Piano Instrumental)](https://youtu.be/7hdxut-5Xeg)

They went in through the luxurious entrance doors into the building and walked over the red carpet to one of the golden elevators – just like they had done many times before. They rode the elevator up to the 21st floor in silence and walked down the corridor. Slaine unlocked the dark wooden door and both entered the boy’s classically furnished apartment. Inaho could remember Slaine had complained about the interior designer who Saazbaum had hired to design how the apartment would look like. The boy would have liked to have a simpler interior to his apartment, like the one Inaho and Yuki had, but Saazbaum – due to his upbringing – had insisted on having the apartment being furnished according to Slaine’s economic status; the apartment was expensive looking all together. It had a dark design.

The hall floor was covered with a soft woven carpet from wall to wall. It had a beige base and had a subtle ivory floral pattern running across it. The wallpaper had a golden tone to it and had thick vertical stripes in lighter gold. A small closet was built into the wall for jackets and shoes, with dark brown doors which opened without a sound.

“Finally at home!” Slaine sighed and untied his black leather shoes. He put them neatly on the shoe rack in the closet, and Inaho followed his example. “I’m beat!”

“You have worked hard the past days with violin practice,” Inaho said and removed the thick tuxedo jacket to hang it up. “Do you want me to cook you something?”

“Thank you, but I don’t think I can eat anything right now. I haven’t calmed down after the stress yet,” Slaine answered with a tired smile.

Inaho watched Slaine walk into the bedroom, put down the violin case next to the bed and pull his tuxedo off of him with exhausted movements. The white shirt remained – which Slaine quickly unbuttoned after he had untied the neck bow. He kept the black tuxedo trousers on as well after debating silently with himself if he had the energy to slip out of them as well, and had come to the conclusion that he was too tired to care undressing entirely. Slaine dropped the garments onto the bed without caring to fold them or hang them up on a hanger.

The master bedroom had a cleaner feel to it than the hall. The wallpaper was plain beige and so was the wall to wall carpet. A huge bed stood in the center of the room with a rosewood headboard, neatly hand carved into the pattern of roses. The bedroom had a large window and a balcony, which Slaine had not cared to furnish at all before winter. He said he would bother with it once spring was on its way.

After Slaine had pulled the jacket and bow off of him, he walked out to the living room and threw himself onto the couch. Slaine breathed out a heavy breath to relax and closed his eyes.

“My fingers hurt,” he complained as Inaho entered the living room and sat down on one of the armchairs. “I was so nervous I pressed the strings too hard the entire time.”

The living room had a baroque feeling to it. It had the same carpet as the hallway, but the wallpapers had a formal damask pattern, with creamy white background and beige pattern. The couches and armchairs in the living room were made of the finest leather and rosewood, and the little coffee table was made of the same material, and had a glass surface. A massive cherry wood desk with golden handles stood in front of the window further back in the room; the windows were draped in heavy darker beige curtains. Inaho had always thought the modern laptop standing on top of the desk looked a bit off compared to the antique feel of the room, and the huge flat screen TV and surround system stood out as well.

“You did great,” Inaho answered and decided to unbutton the tight collar of his shirt. “How did it feel to play your father’s sonata?”

Slaine opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling as he thought. Inaho watched him carefully, not being able to release the blond with his gaze.

“I was really scared,” Slaine said quietly and pulled his fingers through his blond hair and messed the styled hair to relax. “I was scared that the sonata would kill me too – especially when I got to the part where my dad collapsed.” Slaine sat up and smiled his characteristic gentle smile. “But once I got past that point, all the bad feelings went away and it was rather fun.”

Inaho felt a sudden need to touch the other boy as he watched him. His arms tingled like they were missing something to hug – a feeling he had never felt before. It was an indescribable feeling which was so new to him that he felt an immediate impulse to put his arms around the boy without asking for permission. That was when he realized he finally knew what made him happy and his thoughts halted entirely for a second. The mystery he had battled with since the first time he brought Slaine home to his and Yuki’s place, was finally solved; Inaho now knew what the happiness Slaine had spoken about while playing the violin was; he felt it now while looking at Slaine.

‘ _What do people do with feelings like these?_ ’ he wondered. ‘ _When Slaine plays the violin he gets happy and he continues playing until he is satisfied; he lives out his happiness like that. What do I do with my happiness?_ ’

Before he had had the time to come to a decision Slaine chuckled joyfully.

“It feels like we just got back from a school prom,” he said and chuckled again. “I haven’t been at one but since the concert was at my school and I had a lot of fun, and we are dressed in tuxedoes, I can imagine this is how it feels.”

“A school prom?” Inaho asked and stared confused at the boy.

Slaine nodded with a delighted blush.

“Ever since I have seen proms in movies I have dreamt of going to a high school long enough to experience one, but since me and dad moved about so much I figured I would never be able to attend a prom,” Slaine explained with a wry smile. “Do Japanese schools have prom nights?”

Inaho felt a pang of frustration. He knew what Slaine was talking about and – sadly – prom nights were not a cultural thing in Japan; Slaine would probably not experience one as long as he attended a Japanese high school.

“No, we don’t have that here,” he answered and Slaine’s expression turned into disappointment.

“Really?!” the boy exclaimed with a distressed voice.

Inaho wondered why it was so important for Slaine to attend a prom night like in the western teen movies. Was Slaine associating a normal high school life with prom night? If that was the case Inaho could understand why the blond boy thought of it as important; Slaine had always wanted to go to a normal high school and have normal teenage experiences, and if he thought a prom night was such a normal experience, then it was not surprising at all. The entire time Inaho had known Slaine, the blond boy had been obsessed with living a normal high school life. It was like Slaine was searching fanatically for typical teenage experiences and would bask in the joy of them for a long time. Inaho had thought of it as amusing when he had seen Slaine so excited about bringing home his first homework from school. It had ended up with Inaho helping him with the homework since Slaine had had trouble with the language, and Inaho had learned Slaine had pretty average grades – sometimes even lower than average.

“I think you associate the western culture with a normal high school life,” the brunet said while watching the distressed Slaine who had gotten a sour look. “Even if Japan is slowly becoming more westernized we still hold strongly to our traditions.”

Slaine released a childish sigh of disappointment and hung his head.

“I guess… Then this is the closest thing to a prom I actually can get,” he sighed and slumped against the backrest of the couch.

Inaho’s thoughts ranged inside his head as he watched the blond wear such a disheartened expression. It did not suit him the slightest and Inaho wanted to make him happy again. He needed to make Slaine happy since it hurt to see Slaine so discouraged. The boy had wanted to have a normal teenage life and now that he knew the prom night he had imagined would not come to be, he had turned saddened. If a prom was so crucial for Slaine then Inaho would do the best he could to cheer him up.

“Do you mind if I put on some music?” Inaho asked and Slaine shook his head.

“I don’t mind. Go ahead. You already know what to do,” the other answered quietly.

Inaho walked up to the laptop which stood on the expensive looking desk. To handle Slaine’s entertainment setup was nothing unusual for Inaho since he had spent so much time at the blond’s place that he had gotten used to using the setup like it was his own. He turned the laptop on and went immediately onto the internet to find some music he thought would fit for the evening. He found a song which he thought was related to a typical western high school prom night, and the softness of the song began to sound in the speakers of Slaine’s surround system.

Slaine chuckled and looked over the backrest of the couch at Inaho.

“That’s a cheesy song,” he said while he teasingly wrinkled his nose.

“They play cheesy songs in prom scenes in western high school movies, don’t they?” Inaho asked and Slaine’s smile faded. Instead he looked puzzled.

“Yeah, but what does that have to do with-?” Slaine began to ask but Inaho interrupted him.

“You should dance at a prom, right?” Inaho asked and walked around the couch to stand in front of Slaine. Slaine blushed terribly as Inaho held out a hand to him and waited.

“W-what are y-you implying?” the blond asked, stammering nervously. “Are you s-saying we should dance?”

“Why not? You said you wanted to attend a prom and since you already feel like you have been close to experiencing that tonight I think you should at least have a proper dance as well,” Inaho explained and continued waiting for Slaine to take his hand.

Inaho had to be honest with himself though. His silly idea was not only to cheer Slaine up but also to satisfy the excruciating impulse to touch him. The brunet could not explain it at all but it felt like his body tingled violently, begging to be allowed to be close to the other boy. This way he would satisfy his urge as well as make Slaine happy.

“Do you even know h-how to dance?” Slaine asked with his blush growing heavier on his cheeks.

“No. Do you?”

Slaine pressed his lips tightly together and stared at Inaho for a short while before he nodded.

“I think I do…” he mumbled. “I-in the movies they just hug each other and rotate on the same spot.”

‘ _Good…_ ’ Inaho thought pleased. He would be allowed to hug Slaine and enjoy it without thinking too much about what he was doing.

“That doesn’t sound hard. Show me,” Inaho pushed carefully with his monotone voice and waited patiently. He was in no hurry even if he just wanted to pull Slaine up from the couch and hug him tightly in a heartbeat.

“S-show you!?” Slaine exclaimed and pushed against the backrest nervously. The leather creaked slightly with his movement. “But we’re guys!”

“Does it matter?” Inaho asked confused.

“O-of course it does!” Slaine answered and held his breath.

Inaho felt somewhat frustrated and thought that it was best to confront Slaine’s insecurities straight on:

“You said that at the hospital as well about me liking you,” he said bluntly. “You couldn’t explain why it mattered with us both being male back then. Can you do it now?” Slaine stared at him for a while as his brain tried to come up with a reason to his argument, but he seemed to fail at finding one. “And when you taught me how to play on the violin,” Inaho continued. “You didn’t have a problem to stand close to me in order to teach me. Do you have a problem with standing close to me while teaching me how to dance?”

Slaine shook his head while he looked like he was feeling awkward. The blond knew Inaho had a point, and Inaho knew that.

‘ _I won’t give up on this,_ ’ Inaho thought persistently.

“It’s not that I have a problem with standing close to you…” Slaine began but stopped in midsentence and went quiet.

“Then what’s the problem?” the brunet urged.

Slaine breathed a heavy sigh as he closed his eyes but then nodded and stood up from the couch. He stared determinedly at Inaho with the blush still playing on his cheeks.

“O-okay! You’re the girl then since you’re shorter than me,” he said with an exasperatedly confident voice; he did not sound confident at all.

“What does my height have to do with being a girl?” Inaho asked but was surprised as Slaine awkwardly grabbed his arms and put them around his slender neck.

“B-be quiet!” he said bluntly and blushed until his nose and ears became crimson. “T-the girl a-always holds the boy around h-his neck,” Slaine began explaining and then put his own arms around Inaho’s waist. “T-the boy always h-holds the girl around her w-waist.”

There was a small gap between them which frustrated Inaho but he tried to accept it. If this was as close to Slaine the other would allow him then he had to correct himself accordingly.

“And then what do they do?” Inaho asked and met Slaine’s blue eyes.

The blond immediately turned his gaze away and pursed his lips childishly from the awkwardness of standing in such an intimate position with Inaho.

“Then they r-rotate to the tempo of t-the song, and that’s it,” Slaine answered nervously and began to shift his feet to get him and Inaho into a slow rotating motion, and Inaho was quick to follow.

It was pleasant even if Inaho wanted more closeness. A giddy feeling he could only relate to Slaine was building up inside him and he became instantly conscious of their touch. He felt Slaine’s smooth hair brush against his wrists and hands where Inaho rested them around Slaine’s neck. The perfumed scent of the boy was attacking his nostrils and brain. The slight touch of their toes as they almost stepped on each other’s feet at times sent a bolt of electricity through Inaho’s being, just like the warm hands placed on his back.

“Your hands are sweaty,” Inaho declared as he noticed the damp feeling on his back from Slaine’s hands.

“And you’re staring at me creepily!” Slaine countered with a trembling voice as his sensitive pride had been damaged by Inaho’s comment.

“Then where should I look?” the brunet wanted to know.

“I dunno. Wherever y-you want but not at me,” the blond stammered and Inaho’s frustration went through the roof.

“Fine,” Inaho said and pulled Slaine closer with his arms around the blond’s neck. Their bodies bumped together and Inaho rested his chin against Slaine’s shoulder. “Then this way I won’t be awkward by staring at you,” he explained and felt Slaine’s body go stiff.

“T-this is not helping at all!” Slaine shouted and Inaho could swear even the boy’s neck went red from an intense blush. “It feels even more awkward!”

“You complain a lot.”

“Y-you give me reasons t-to complain!”

“Why do you search for reasons to complain?” Inaho asked frankly and suddenly Slaine went completely quiet.

While the music was playing through the speakers they kept rotating on the same spot like they had forgotten how to stop. Slaine did not say a word for a while and neither did Inaho. The brunet did not dare to ask if Slaine wanted him to let go of him.

‘ _Let me hold you… I’m sorry, but I really want to hold you_ ,’ Inaho thought secretly and relaxed the longer he held Slaine.

Slowly and unintentionally Inaho’s arms tightened slightly around the blond boy’s neck. He closed his eyes and breathed in the scent just like he had done the first time Slaine had hugged him in Inaho’s room after the violin lesson. The warmness of their bodies made Inaho’s mind spin and he buried his face against the crook of Slaine’s neck. He placed the palms of his hands against the other’s shoulder blades. It did not take long until the other boy relaxed as well. Inaho felt Slaine’s arms suddenly tighten around his waist and the sharp chin rested on Inaho’s shoulder. Their cheeks pressed tightly together and a warm breath tickled against Inaho’s neck.

They found themselves in that position for a while as they continued rotating to the tempo of the songs playing in the background. None of them said a word to each other during that time. Inaho felt his heart flutter like a newborn butterfly. He was happy to be soaring even if he did it clumsily due to the experience being so new to him. He wondered how Slaine felt – if he was enjoying it, finding comfort from it, or simply feeling the same way Inaho did. The brunet did not dare to ask; for the first time in his life he was afraid of asking someone a question. Normally he never hesitated if he wanted to know something, but now he was afraid of the answer.

‘ _What if he doesn’t feel like I do? What do I do with these feelings then?_ ’ Inaho took a deep breath and inhaled the pleasant smell of the other boy. It was pleasantly sweet and so wonderfully human he felt his mind spin; it was tickling his mind in torturous ways. ‘ _What will he do if I kiss him?_ ’

In the end Inaho could not stop himself from pressing his lips against Slaine’s neck. The blond boy jumped lightly from the sudden contact of lips against skin. Inaho was vigilant about Slaine’s moves and breaths just in case he would step over a line which Slaine considered was not allowed, but that kind of sign did not come. Instead Slaine allowed Inaho to be bolder with his kisses; the brunet’s kisses went from behind Slaine’s ear to the crook of his neck, and that instant the blond shivered in Inaho’s arms.

“I-Inaho…” Slaine sighed. “This feels weird.”

“In a bad way?” Inaho asked quietly and kissed the same spot once more to tempt forth another shiver from the other. He was feeling greedy and selfish but he could not stop himself now that the opportunity had presented itself to him so abruptly.

“N-no. Or … I don’t know,” Slaine said with a heavily embarrassed voice. “It feels weird and tickles, b-but I don’t want to push you away or ask you to stop.”

‘ _So he’s curious?_ ’ Inaho wondered.

“If it doesn’t feel bad, can I kiss you?” the brunet asked shamelessly and Slaine tensed up immediately.

“W-why!?” he heard the blond blurt out in a confused stammer.

“Do you want me to let you go?” Inaho asked as insecurity began to bubble up in his chest. He would feel a pang of disappointment if Slaine asked him to let him go.

Slaine went quiet. The blond did not know what to say but Inaho did not push him for an answer. It was best to let the boy figure out why he said and thought the things he did, and then finally the blond asked nervously:

“B-back then – at the hospital – you said you liked me. Um… You didn’t know in what way, b-but do you know now?”

Inaho stared at Slaine’s neck to remember back to the hospital. He had indeed told the blond he liked him and at the time he had not known in what way. He was not sure about it now either; in which way did he like him?

“Why do you ask?” Inaho wondered out loud and Slaine slumped against him from embarrassment.

“Y-you know… Uh… I don’t want to sound like I’m being arrogant or conceited or a-anything, but I have to ask… … D-do you … love me?”

Now it was Inaho’s turn to feel awkward. He did not know what love felt like and nor did he know why Slaine asked him that, but he could not ignore the fact that he wanted to hold the blond in his arms and kiss him. Inaho wanted to be around the blond every day and when he was not able to he missed the boy badly enough he could hardly concentrate on his studies.

‘ _Is this what a crush feels like?_ ’ he wondered and suddenly felt happy. The more he thought about it the more he was certain that his feelings were about love. Interest had turned into a crush a long time ago and he had not realized it until he had fallen in love.

“I think I do,” Inaho answered with a whisper. “Is it that obvious that I do?”

Slaine cleared his throat from embarrassment and hesitated for a short moment before he said:

“You’re holding me and k-kissing my neck, and you always call me to ask if I want to hang out but you never ask your friends; it’s like you’re t-trying to keep me to yourself. How can it not be obvious!?” the blond said with an awkward and raised voice.

“Hm…” Inaho hummed as he thought about it. “I guess you’re right. Why haven’t you said anything?”

Slaine hugged him tighter to prevent Inaho from looking at his embarrassed expression and stammered:

“B-because I didn’t w-want to jump to conclusions and s-sound like I’m being self-important.”

“So you were waiting for me to say something?” Inaho asked and Slaine nodded shamefully. “What about you?”

Slaine took a deep breath and straightened his back in determination.

“I guess … I feel the same way about you,” he said hesitantly. “I mean, I really enjoy having you around, even … when it’s like this…”

Inaho felt so happy he could hardly contain it. Slaine felt the same way about him and so Inaho was allowed to touch him like he did.

“Slaine…” Inaho said quietly and released Slaine’s neck. He pulled slightly away and put his fingertips respectfully against Slaine’s chin. Gently he turned Slaine’s face toward him, enough to be able to kiss him on the corner of his mouth. The warm breath tickled Inaho’s jaw, urging their touch to become intimate, and Inaho’s lips touched Slaine’s.

The moment their lips touched the blond bit down on his lower lip and closed his eyes tightly. Inaho noticed goosebumps on Slaine’s neck from the gentle peck. When Inaho pulled back Slaine took a deep breath out of nervousness and slowly opened his eyes to look at the brunet. His eyes were gleaming and a charming blush – different from before – lay on his cheeks as he looked at Inaho.

Inaho waited excitedly for what Slaine was going to do.

Slaine seemed to collect his thoughts before the light in his eyes turned into determination, and he moved closer until he finally pressed his lips onto Inaho’s. Inaho felt so excited he had difficulties of knowing what to do and his breath was caught in his throat. Arms wrapped around Inaho’s neck when they stood completely still in the innocent and dry kiss; their first kiss. None of them had kissed someone else before and Inaho felt happy that he was Slaine’s first; the first to have a kiss from and the first to give a kiss to. They stayed like that for a short moment before they pulled slightly away from each other to breathe, and then – with parted lips – their mouths collided delicately once more.

Slaine’s lips were soft and gentle, much like the way he played the violin. The kiss Inaho got was tender and fragile, yet passionate enough the brunet felt a bolt of electricity down his back. Slaine’s kiss was filled with his own gentle and passionate character and Inaho thought of the kiss as liberating, like Inaho finally got to vent something he had been bottling up for a long time. Their kisses slowly turned into biting kisses. At first they were careful and of the exploring kind, but once both boys found it comfortable the kisses turned deeper.

Inaho wanted more of Slaine; he wanted to be as close to Slaine as he could and thus he pulled Slaine closer with his arms around the blond’s waist. He heard a huff of breath from the other as they pressed tighter together. Slaine did not resist him; he happily held Inaho close and continued kissing him with more need and desperation. The blond hugged Inaho close enough the brunet could not move an inch away from him if he wanted to try.

“Mmh…” Inaho heard Slaine moan and a completely new thrill began to grow in the brunet.

The weak sound was exciting and Inaho wondered how Slaine’s other noises sounded like. An exploring hand crept up under Slaine’s shirt and Inaho felt Slaine’s hand grip his shirt harder on Inaho’s back. The skin Inaho teased was warm and soft. It reminded the brunet about the feeling of velvet. It made Inaho almost lose his control since a heavy greed flashed in his mind; he wanted to undress the other boy completely.

“Slaine…” Inaho whispered as they made a pause in the middle of their kiss; Slaine had released a surprised gasp and jumped at Inaho’s hand caressing a sensitive nerve somewhere on the boy’s ribs. “Can I undress you?”

Slaine stared at the brown-haired boy for a short moment with a different kind of blush on his cheeks. Inaho was sure he had a similar blush as well; their temperatures had rocketed from the thrilling connection between them. Slaine nodded slowly and said with a trembling voice:

“Then I want to undress you too…”

Inaho nodded and kissed the blond again before he pulled himself away slightly to give Slaine room to open the buttons on Inaho’s white shirt, just as Inaho did with Slaine’s, while they continued kissing. Slaine slowly and nervously opened his shirt and threw it to the floor, and then went on to help Inaho out of his undershirt right after Inaho had pushed Slaine’s shirt off the blond’s shoulders. It lay in a heap on the floor where the boys stood. When Inaho’s torso had been undressed Inaho continued with helping Slaine out of his clothes as well; he pulled Slaine’s undershirt off and began to unbuttoning his trousers.

The moment it was Slaine’s turn to unbutton Inaho’s trousers a shock went through the brunet. He felt a sudden heat boil up out of nowhere, which he was not prepared for. He had begun to turn excited beyond the normal excitement he used to feel. He looked at the blushing Slaine who awkwardly opened Inaho’s trousers and pushed them off of him, and the moment Inaho had been freed from them the boy could not stop himself from pushing their bodies together again. Slowly – while their lips were exploring each other’s – they descended to their knees on the floor without letting each other go. Their arms coiled around the other, desperately holding onto the only thing that could extinguish their longing; the one holding the other in the same desperate manner.

Inaho was taken by surprise when he felt a sudden push against his chest; Slaine pushed himself hard enough against him that they both fell down onto the floor. Inaho’s back hit the soft carpet and a pleasant heaviness weighed him down. He looked up to see Slaine instantly close the momentary distance between them by locking their lips together again.

“Slaine…” Inaho sighed between the kisses before he pushed Slaine’s shoulders back to let himself breathe. “Calm down.”

Slaine’s hazy eyes stared back at him, slightly confused by Inaho stopping him. In truth Inaho was nervous of how far they would go but he could not deny the fact that he was greatly happy about Slaine feeling such longing to him as well. He wondered how long Slaine had been keeping it to himself.

“I’m sorry,” Slaine answered with a voice thick with nervousness, and he eased the pressure against Inaho’s body. “I can’t help it. I feel so hot,” he said breathlessly.

“How long?” Inaho asked patiently and watched those blue eyes stare back at him.

“What do you mean?” the blond asked and tilted his head ever so slightly out of confusion.

Inaho took a deep breath. He knew Slaine was nervous and trembling, as well as frustrated.

“How long have you felt the same way?” the brunet wanted to know and Slaine blinked a couple of times as he woke up from his hazy state.

“I don’t know…” Slaine answered with a whisper. “It just suddenly happened,” he explained and Inaho allowed him to rest against him once again. Slaine’s arms framed Inaho’s shoulders and squeezed him tightly as Slaine buried his face against Inaho’s neck. “I wasn’t sure how you felt, so I didn’t say anything.”

Inaho understood. He had thought the same thing; he had been protecting his pride and emotions, fearing that Slaine would run away if the blond learned what feelings Inaho harbored. The embarrassment Slaine had portrayed thus far could have been due to the same reason; his only way of protecting his secret was to react with awkwardness when taken off guard.

“Were you waiting for me to say it first?” Inaho asked and felt Slaine nod. The blond hair tickled against Inaho’s cheek.

“I wasn’t sure, so I waited until I could become sure of you feeling the same way,” the blond answered quietly and the warm breath against Inaho’s neck made the brunet shiver, and Inaho wrapped his arms around Slaine.

“What if I wouldn’t have said or done anything?” Inaho wondered, and Slaine released a low and frustrated groan.

“Idiot…” the blond simply answered and raised his head to kiss Inaho’s lips again. “Then you would have left me waiting for the rest of my life.”

Inaho could not help but to smile. Slaine’s cowardice was amusing and so much like the boy Inaho had learned to know. Was it not for Inaho’s nature of pursuing what he wanted and making things work the way he needed, they would probably never gotten to where they were now. Without answering Inaho raised his head just slightly to reach for a kiss, and before long they immersed themselves in the moment until their lips turned sore. They stayed on the floor the entire time and when evening had turned into night Slaine had fallen asleep next to Inaho. The brunet reached for the blanket resting on the armchair next to them and pulled it over them both. He watched Slaine sleep for a short while, admiring the peaceful and contented expression of the boy, before Inaho closed his eyes and fell asleep as well, close enough to Slaine that they shared their breaths.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the story comes to an end. I hope you enjoyed it! If you want to DL it, you can get it in a clean PDF pocket format, by downloading it from [**HERE**](http://www.mediafire.com/download/fm1g241825es4hg/Aldnoah+Sonata+In+D+Major+1+BOOK.pdf)

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to K.P. and S.P. for playing the violin so beautifully in my childhood.


End file.
